Dive Brief:
- FedEx announced that while the company's data was not breached by the Petya cyberattack last month, TNT Express — its branch that handles the European road delivery network — remains in a state of disruption, according to a disclosure to investors.
- The company says TNT's operations and communications were seriously impacted. TNT depots, hubs and facilities are fully operational, although customers continue to endure delays. Manual processes have temporarily replaced most previously automated TNT operations and customer service functions.
- No estimate is yet available regarding TNT's full return to service. In fact, FedEx stated "it is reasonably possible" the company would be unable to restore "all the critical business data." While unable to fully estimate the material cost, FedEx says it lost revenue due to lower volumes and associated recovery costs.
Dive Insight:
Acts of cyber crime rarely astonish the general public anymore, but they do add insult to injury for the companies they affect. Not only are normal services interrupted — sometimes for days — but they also cost the company lost business while the IT team seeks to resolve the disruption.
Cybercrimes also impact a company's stock performance. According to Comparitech, stocks generally see a 0.43% drop immediately after a data breach. After the initial shock, a small rebound occurs in that the affected company's stock price will resume rising, but far more slowly. This stage lasts roughly two years, after which recovery usually occurs.
This was true for A.P. Moller-Maersk, FedEx and Mondelez International following the Petya attack. Within a day of the attack, Maersk's stock dropped 0.69%, Mondelez International's stock declined 0.93% and FedEx's stock fell 0.53%, according to Yahoo Finance data. The costs are still being compiled, but given the extent of lost operations, they will likely surpass the million-dollar mark.
