Clorox Blames IT Provider for Security Failures After $380M Ransomware Attack Disrupts Operations

For the third consecutive year, IBM referred to the manufacturing sector as the most targeted industry by hackers in 2024. Clorox, the well-known bleach and cleaning products brand, is one of the most recent large victims, has just disclosed details of a serious ransomware attack that hampered its operations.

What makes this incident more notable is that Clorox is not just blaming the hackers, it is also suing its IT service provider, Cognizant, for alleged negligence.

The attack is believed to have been carried out by the cybercriminal group Scattered Spider, which is infamous for tricking IT help desks into providing login information. Clorox claims that's exactly how this attack occurred. Clorox claims in the lawsuit that hackers posing as company employees were able to call the IT help desk and collect login information without having to provide sufficient identity verification.

Clorox claims that this basic security flaw allowed hackers constantly gain credentials, locking the corporation out of its systems and causing major business difficulties.The entire loss is estimated at $380 million, mainly due to interrupted shipments and operating delays.

The lawsuit includes call transcripts and records that demonstrate how the hackers accessed the system without utilising advanced tactics. Cognisant responded by shifting blame back to Clorox, claiming that the company had poor internal cyber security standards and that Cognizant's participation was restricted to basic help desk support rather than overall cyber security.

This particular situation demonstrates the growing threat of social engineering assaults and raises serious concerns about responsibility in modern cyber security breaches. 

This article is based on information from Yahoo News