The Ultimate Kronos Group (UKG), a major technology firm that provides human resource management solutions to other companies, met with a serious ransomware attack on Monday.
The online attack has left a few customers of the company unable to access their payroll systems and this situation could last for weeks to come.
Informing its customers and communities on the blog, the firm revealed that the cyber attack had disrupted Kronos Private Cloud.
Kronos Private Cloud has a variety of company solutions, including UKG Workforce Central, UKGTeleStaff, Health Care Extensions, and Bank Planning Solutions.
The ransomware attack was discovered after an investigation into the “unusual activity affecting UKG solutions” by the end of December 11.
UKG is now working with online security experts to “assess and resolve the situation.” Investigations are underway to determine the nature and extent of cyberbullying.
Until the status quo comes out, Kronos Private Cloud solutions will remain unavailable to customers. In its blog, UKG suggests that it “can take a few weeks” to restore these services, and recommends that its customers use alternatives to these services until then.
A CNN report highlighting the incident shares that ransomware attacks have led to concerns about data theft. The report cites a Cleveland city statement, stating that Kronos had informed them that sensitive information could be at risk in the attack.
This information may include staff names, addresses and the last four social security numbers, all stolen within the Kronos network.
UKG gives us a glimpse into this concern on its FAQ page about the incident. According to the company, it is currently investigating the possibility of data theft, as it is working hard to “determine if customer data is compromised.”
Even if there has never been a data theft, which is very unlikely if hackers were able to make their way to the Kronos network, ransomware attacks have left many corporate payment systems inactive.
CNN reports that companies using Kronos services have had to make emergency payment plans for employees. Some of them have switched to paper testing, while others are still finding ways to access their payroll systems.
In most cases, however, the Kronos offline timesheet system is still operational and companies can continue to use it for now.
