Cyberattacks hit NBFCs; Pine Labs Q2 profit zooms

Also in the letter:
■ Vaishnaw vows to uphold press freedom
■ Microsoft, Google earnings
■ ETtech Done Deals

AI-powered cyberattacks siphon Rs 300 crore from small NBFCs in two months

Fraudsters are estimated to have siphoned about Rs 300 crore from NBFCs (non-banking financial companies), mostly smaller ones, through cyberattacks over the past two months or so. Nearly 150 complaints or FIRs have been filed in this regard, sources told us.

Repeated attacks: “Cyberattacks used to happen earlier also but for the past one and a half months, they have become rampant, with some companies witnessing repeated attacks,” one of the sources said.

• The raids have exploited weak cybersecurity infrastructure at these NBFCs, largely those with turnover of about Rs 1,000 crore or below.
• Some 30 complaints have been filed in Mumbai, over 25 in Delhi, and 15-16 in Chennai, among other cities. As many as 8,502 NBFCs were registered with the banking regulator as of October 15.

Modus operandi: Cybersecurity agencies have found Chinese hacking platform CyberStrike to be the perpetrator in cases where probes have been completed.

Experts told ET that a combination of two Chinese AI toolkits, Artex and CyberStrike, used along with Chinese open-source models such as DeepSeek and Alibaba’s Qwen, have been marauding financial systems globally, with firms in Japan and South Korea also facing attacks.

Multiple agents: Cert-In said the time from break-in to damage has been compressed to hours from days, with multiple AI agents operating in parallel, and has asked organisations to prioritise alerts on Artex and CyberStrike.

Also Read: Cert-In and states rush to patch PHP flaws across govt portals

Pine Labs’ Q2 profit surges over six-fold to Rs 39 crore; revenue rises 24%

Pine Labs CEO Amrish Rau

Payments technology firm Pine Labs reported a more-than-sixfold rise in net profit in the September quarter, on the back of rising revenue from transactions processed through its existing merchant network.

Financials:

• Net profit: Rs 38.57 crore versus Rs 5.97 crore a year ago.
• Revenue from operations: Grew 24% to Rs 806.19 crore from Rs 649.90 crore a year earlier.
• Revenue from digital infrastructure, transaction platform business: Up 21% to Rs 531.55 crore.
• Online payments: Grew more than 45%; mid-market merchant checkout-point base increased 49%.
• Total expenses: Climbed 16% to Rs 770.37 crore.

Meesho sees near-term margin pressure as it reinvests in growth

Meesho CEO Vidit Aatrey

Meesho’s improving unit economics could face a near-term reversal as the value ecommerce

platform steps up investment to drive growth through the festive season.

The highlight: The Bengaluru-based company’s September quarter results on Wednesday showed the contribution margin — income left after deducting direct, order-linked expenses — rising to 6% of net merchandise value in Q2 FY27, up from 4.6% in the April–June period.

Government open to media suggestions on Digital Personal Data Protection Act, promises to uphold press freedom

Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

The government is willing to hear news organisations out on the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act and will act if doubts persist about press freedom, information and broadcasting minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday.

Press freedom and privacy: “Journalistic freedom is guaranteed by the Constitution, and there is no intention to affect that. Privacy law maintains that freedom which the Constitution guarantees. Right to privacy is defined as a fundamental right by the Supreme Court’s judgment, so that has been converted into law by Parliament,” said Vaishnaw, who also holds the electronics and IT and railways portfolios.

Supreme Court petition: His comments came a day after the Supreme Court sought the Centre’s response to petitions alleging that DPDP Act provisions infringe press freedom and weaken the Right to Information Act, 2005.

Petitioner Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA), which represents 21 news publishers, including Times Internet, argued that the absence of an exemption for journalistic activities in the Act and its rules would impede news reporting and investigative journalism.

Times Internet is the digital arm of The Times of India Group, which also publishes The Economic Times.

Big Tech earnings: Microsoft, Google see cloud revenues surge

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella (left) and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai

Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet reported quarterly results on Thursday. Both companies are leaning hard on AI and cloud computing, but investors rewarded one and punished the other.

Microsoft numbers: Microsoft beat Wall Street expectations on revenue and profit, driven by its Azure cloud business, which grew 48% to $33.17 billion. Shares rose about 6% in after-hours trading.

The company is spending heavily on AI, nearly doubling its property and equipment spending from a year earlier.

Google’s performance: Alphabet’s cloud unit more than doubled its revenue to $30.7 billion, narrowing the gap with Azure. However, the revenue and earnings per share missed expectations, and slower growth in search and YouTube advertising worried investors. Shares fell more than 10% after hours.

Dashverse shuts DashReels, seeks $40 million for AI push

Dashverse CEO Sanidhya Narain

Peak XV Partners-backed Dashverse has discontinued its microdrama platform DashReels, and is looking to raise $30-40 million as it pivots to selling AI-powered video production software to entertainment companies, sources told us.

Details:

• The proposed fundraise is at an early stage.
• The startup is pitching its business-to-business software platform, Frameo AI, to prospective investors as it moves away from acquiring and monetising viewers through its own app.
• Sources added that the company’s AI software and services business has reached an annualised revenue run rate of around $10 million.

B2B manufacturing startup CapGrid closes Rs 50 crore round; valuation up 40%

CapGrid founders Himanshu Singh Raghuvanshi (left) and Dheeraj Tiwari with Sunil Kant Munjal, chairman, Hero Enterprise (centre)

Business-to-business manufacturing startup CapGrid has closed a Rs 50-crore round, cofounder and CEO Dheeraj Tiwari told ET.

Tell me more: The deal is a mix of primary and secondary transactions and values the startup at Rs 430 crore. The round was led by Hero Enterprise Venture Partners, the investment arm of Sunil Munjal-led Hero Enterprise.

The Gurugram-based startup serves OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and tier-1 suppliers in the automotive, consumer durables, and heavy industrial sectors. It streamlines procurement by helping OEMs directly source precision parts and components from suppliers it has tied up with.