A company known for its timekeeping system and is used for payroll in tens of thousands of businesses internationally was recently impacted by a ransomware attack.
A spokesperson for Ultimate Kronos Group, UKG, released the following statement Monday regarding the attack:
“UKG recently became aware of a ransomware incident that has disrupted the Kronos Private Cloud, which houses solutions used by a limited number of our customers. We took immediate action to investigate and mitigate the issue, have alerted our affected customers and informed the authorities, and are working with leading cybersecurity experts. We recognize the seriousness of the issue and have mobilized all available resources to support our customers and are working diligently to restore the affected services.”
According to its website, tens of thousands of organizations, including half of the Fortune 1000, and more than 40 million people use Kronos every day. At this time, it is unclear when Kronos will recover from the attack. The company said it will continue to provide more information as it becomes available. It's also unclear how many companies were impacted.
According to USA Today, high profile companies that use Kronos systems include Tesla and Puma. TEGNA, 11Alive's parent company, also uses Kronos.
Flaws in software vulnerability are rapidly emerging as a major threat to internet-connected devices. Recently, a software threat was exploited in the online game Minecraft, a popular game owned by Microsoft. Earlier this year, the Georgia-based company Colonial Pipeline, which operates 5,500 miles of pipeline from Texas up to New York, was impacted by a cybersecurity attack.
More research is being conducted to find out how more threats could be exploited within major servers within companies such as Apple, Amazon and Twitter.