WASHINGTON — Clorox warned Monday that a recent cybersecurity attack caused "widespread" disruptions to its business, which may make some products harder to find in stores for the time being.
The attack, which was discovered on Aug. 14, damaged portions of the company’s IT infrastructure, it disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Because of the attack, the company said it took some of its systems offline and shifted over to completing orders and processing procedures manually. Clorox acknowledged Monday it's now "recently begun to experience an elevated level of consumer product availability issues."
The company said in the SEC filing that it can't predict how long it will take to return to normal operations but expects to resume automated order processing next week.
While the filing didn't specify which products may be impacted, the Clorox Company covers several brands including Burt's Bees, Glad, Hidden Valley and Pine-Sol.
Clorox also said it's resumed production at the "vast majority" of its manufacturing facilities. The company added that it believes the unauthorized activity has been contained.
The update on the Clorox cyberattack comes shortly after casino giants MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment revealed both companies also suffered cybersecurity break-ins this month. Those attacks are still disrupting hotel and casino operations at MGM properties. Video slot machines went dark and faulty hotel key cards left some guests locked out of their rooms.
Experts say no security system is perfect, no matter how sophisticated or expensive, because hackers tend to exploit human error with tactics like phishing emails. The experts warn that more attacks could be on the way.