It’s an exciting Friday at the company. Months of planning an acquisition will culminate in a public announcement early the next week. In a bustling conference room, the planning team reviews the execution plan one last time. Spirits are high as the weekend approaches.
By midday Monday, the mood has drastically shifted. An early morning buying frenzy of the target company’s stock inflated its price, fueling rampant speculation of an acquisition. The stock is no longer at an acceptable price and months of planning are undone. The company’s executives, confident in the deal team’s integrity, engage a cybersecurity firm to determine if they’ve been hacked.
