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Cyber-attacks and stock market activity

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  • Tosun, Onur Kemal

Abstract

I study how financial markets react to unexpected corporate security breaches in the short and the long-term. The main results show that daily excess returns drop, trading volume increases due to selling pressure, and liquidity improves upon the public disclosure of first-time corporate hacking events. The evidence from the search frequency in Google suggests that such short-lived market reaction is due to increasing investors' attention. Cyber-attacks affect firms' policies in the long run, up to five years after the security breach announcement. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that security breaches represent unexpected negative shocks to firms' reputations.

Suggested Citation

  • Tosun, Onur Kemal, 2021. "Cyber-attacks and stock market activity," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finana:v:76:y:2021:i:c:s1057521921001319
    DOI: 10.1016/j.irfa.2021.101795
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    Cited by:

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    2. Cao, Hung & Phan, Hieu V. & Silveri, Sabatino, 2024. "Data breach disclosures and stock price crash risk: Evidence from data breach notification laws," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    3. Daniel Celeny & Loic Mar'echal & Evgueni Rousselot & Alain Mermoud & Mathias Humbert, 2024. "Prioritizing Investments in Cybersecurity: Empirical Evidence from an Event Study on the Determinants of Cyberattack Costs," Papers 2402.04773, arXiv.org.
    4. Nguyen, Phuc Lam Thy & Alsakka, Rasha & Mantovan, Noemi, 2023. "Political preferences and stock markets," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    5. Goodell, John W. & Corbet, Shaen, 2023. "Commodity market exposure to energy-firm distress: Evidence from the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    6. Tosun, Onur Kemal, 2022. "Do investors react differently? Evidence from hospitality sector during the covid-19 pandemic," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    7. Bernales, Alejandro & Beuermann, Diether W. & Cumming, Douglas & Olid, Christian, 2023. "Blue-Collar Crime and Finance," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    8. Singh, Amanjot, 2023. "Data breaches (hacking) and trade credit," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    9. Uddin, Md Hamid & Mollah, Sabur & Islam, Nazrul & Ali, Md Hakim, 2023. "Does digital transformation matter for operational risk exposure?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    10. Wang, Heng Emily & Wang, Qin Emma & Wu, Wentao, 2022. "Short selling surrounding data breach announcements," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PB).
    11. Wang, Jimin & Ho, Choy Yeing (Chloe) & Shan, Yuan George, 2024. "Does cybersecurity risk stifle corporate innovation activities?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    12. Corbet, Shaen & Goodell, John W., 2022. "The reputational contagion effects of ransomware attacks," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PB).
    13. Peng, Jin & Zhang, Haofei & Mao, Juan & Xu, Shouhuai, 2023. "Repeated data breaches and firm value," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).
    14. Daniel Celeny & Loic Mar'echal, 2024. "Cyber risk and the cross-section of stock returns," Papers 2402.04775, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2024.
    15. Michele Costola & Michael Donadelli & Luca Gerotto & Ivan Gufler, 2022. "Global risks, the macroeconomy, and asset prices," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 63(5), pages 2357-2388, November.
    16. Kemal Tosun, Onur & Eshraghi, Arman & Muradoglu, Gulnur, 2023. "Learning financial survival from disasters," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    17. Kakhkharov, Jakhongir & Onur, Ilke & Yalcin, Erkan & Zhu, Rong, 2024. "Global evidence on the Russia–Ukraine conflict and energy stock returns," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PB), pages 413-435.
    18. Tosun, Onur Kemal & Eshraghi, Arman, 2022. "Corporate decisions in times of war: Evidence from the Russia-Ukraine conflict," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    19. Gilles Hilary & Vanessa Serret, 2023. "Governance and Digital Transformation [Gouvernance et transformation numérique]," Post-Print hal-04380300, HAL.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Security breaches; Cyber-attacks; Market activity; Long-term impact; Investors' attention;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

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