Clorox announced Monday that consumers should expect a shortage of its cleaning products. This time the shortage is from a cyberattack, not a global pandemic.
The company “identified unauthorized activity” on its information technology systems in August, forcing it to take “certain systems offline” to stop the hacker, according to the company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
With some of its systems offline, the company had to transition to “manual ordering and processing procedures.” The company believes the cyberattack has been contained.
Clorox believes the cyberattack and resulting shortage will impact its first quarter financial results. Its share prices dropped a little over 1% on Monday, CNBC reported.
Why is there a Clorox shortage?
The initial shortage was due to the temporary move to manual ordering and processing. This forced Clorox to operate at a reduced rate.
The shortage has continued due to damages Clorox’s IT systems sustained in the attack. The damages caused “widescale disruption” of the company’s operations.
When will Clorox production return to normal?
The company expects to return to its usual automated ordering process the week of Sept. 25, but it does not have a timetable for when production will return to normal.
It is in the process of moving its systems that were moved offline back online.
“Clorox has already resumed production at the vast majority of its manufacturing sites and expects the ramp up to full production to occur over time. At this time, the company cannot estimate how long it will take to resume fully normalized operations,” the company said in its filing.
Have operations at other companies been affected by cyberattacks?
Multiple MGM Resorts International hotels in Las Vegas and across the U.S. experienced operation setbacks after being targeted in a cyberattack on Sept. 10.
The attack affected the company’s website, online reservation system, room locks and slot machines, ABC News reported.
Caesars Entertainment reported that it was also a victim of another cyberattack on Thursday. Through its own investigation, the company determined that the hackers obtained a copy of its loyalty member database, which contains a “significant number” of members’ social security numbers and driver’s license numbers, according to its SEC filing.
“We have no evidence to date that any member passwords/PINs, bank account information, or payment card information (PCI) were acquired by the unauthorized actor,” the company said in its filing.
The company paid a $15 million ransom in response to the attack, CNBC reported.