Alkem Labs reports 'fraudulent transfer' of Rs 52 crore from cyber-security breach

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Alkem Laboratories did however employ an independent external agency to investigate the incident. This investigating agency even submitted a report to the Board of Directors, who suggested that the cyber-security incident be shared with the exchanges for full transparency.

"Whilst, the report concluded that the impact of the incident did not extend beyond the above-mentioned amounts, the Board of Directors at its meeting held today i.e. 12th January, 2024, decided that in the interest of transparency and as a matter of good governance, this cyber security incident should be reported to the stock exchanges," informed the filing.

"The incident did not occur due to any fraudulent act on part of any of the promoters, directors, key managerial personnel or any member of the senior management or any other employee of the Company or it’s subsidiary. Further, the Company has taken all necessary steps and filed necessary complaints with concerned governmental and regulatory authorities in this matter," it added.

In November 2023, the company had tied up with a Nasdaq-listed cybersecurity solutions company Check Point Software Technologies to protect various facilities of the pharma company from cyber attack.

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Check Point's website, when discussing this tie-up, stated, "Recognizing that over 90 percent of cyberattacks on organisations originate from malicious emails, Alkem also deployed Check Point Harmony Email to protect their employees' inboxes. As a result, Alkem observed a significant reduction in phishing emails--from 50 daily reports to zero".

As per a joint statement released by Alkem Laboratories and Check Point Software Technologies, they said, “Last year, Alkem Labs encountered a cyber breach involving fraudulent email IDs of select employees at one of its subsidiaries. This foreign subsidiary was operating independently outside the corporate systems, which at the time was not leveraging Check Point’s security solutions."

"As a responsible corporate entity, Alkem Labs fully disclosed this minor breach to the Securities and Exchange Board of India. Following this breach, Alkem Labs quickly resumed normal business operations with minimal impact to the entire organization," the statement further added.

"Taking proactive measures to bolster their cybersecurity after this fraudulent breach, Check Point Software Technologies were engaged quickly to extend the same fortified security infrastructure, present in the Alkem Labs corporate structure across to the entire Alkem Labs subsidiaries both domestic and internationally, particularly focusing on networks and emails," they said.