Cyberattack Hampers Clorox Production Schedule

 A cyberattack at Clorox is hindering the bleach maker's ability to make cleaning materials, Clorox said in a regulatory filing. The company discovered unauthorized activity in some of its information technology systems in August. Clorox said it immediately took action to stop the attack, including reducing its operations. Clorox said the attack was contained, but admitted some products are now in short supply as it has struggled to meet consumer demand during the disruption. Clorox didn’t specify which of its products are affected.

Despite containing the cyberattack, Clorox has not been able to get its manufacturing operations back to previous levels and is fulfilling and processing orders manually. The company doesn’t expect to begin the process of returning to normal operations until next week.

“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,” the company said. “At this time, the company cannot estimate how long it will take to resume fully normalized operations.”

The company said the cyberattack and the delays will hurt its current-quarter financial results materially, although Clorox said determining any longer-term impact would be premature, “given the ongoing recovery.”

Clorox is just the latest company in the household and personal products industry to get attacked. Estée Lauder Cos. was attacked last month.

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