The Center for Research and Community Service Development (P4M), Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS), in collaboration with the Behavioral Accounting Research Group (RG), organized a Working Paper Forum titled “Narrative Resilience: Abnormal Disclosure Tone After Cyberattacks” on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, at the FEB UNS Faculty Discussion Room. The forum brought together faculty members and students and featured Taufiq Arifin, S.E., M.Sc., Ph.D., Ak., from the Behavioral Accounting Research Group as the keynote speaker.

During the forum, Taufiq presented findings from his research examining how companies respond to cyberattacks through their public disclosures. The research, conducted along with five collaborators, analyzed the disclosures of companies affected by cyberattacks using textual analysis of annual reports and regulatory filing documents from companies in the United States between 2005 and 2023. The research employed both dictionary-based learning and machine learning approaches to examine 17,008 observations from 575 cyberattack incidents.

“This study focuses on how companies construct disclosure narratives after experiencing cyberattacks, particularly the use of a more positive disclosure tone in their reports,” explained Taufiq.

Taufiq also outlined the two theoretical perspectives underpinning the research: impression management theory and information asymmetry reduction theory. These frameworks explain how companies communicate with investors and other stakeholders following cybersecurity incidents. Using these perspectives, the research team measured abnormal disclosure tone by analyzing the proportion of positive and negative sentiment contained in corporate reports.

The findings indicate that the impact of cyberattacks on the positive tone of corporate disclosures may persist for up to one year after an incident. The effect becomes even stronger when companies experience repeated cyberattacks or when other firms within the same industry are also targeted. The interactive discussion that followed highlighted the relevance of these findings within the Indonesian context.

Through the Working Paper Forum, FEB UNS continues to promote a collaborative and productive academic environment while providing a platform for discussions on emerging research addressing contemporary challenges in business and accounting.

The forum also supports the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) by advancing research on digital transformation and cybersecurity, and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) by encouraging greater transparency and stronger corporate governance in managing cyber risks.