In 2024, IBM identified the manufacturing sector as the industry most attacked by cyber criminals for the third straight year – which is why we see even the biggest brands being impacted by the work of hackers.
Bleach maker Clorox is coming clean about the details surrounding a recent ransomware attack but the fingerpointing extends past the gang of perpetrators and all the way to the company’s IT provider.
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And Clorox believes that the IT firm's faults in this situation were so egregious that it has filed a lawsuit.
The suit points to a 2023 incident in which hackers from the group Scattered Spider targeted several firms.
According to Reuters, Scattered Spider is particularly adept at “tricking IT help desks into handing over credentials and then using that access to lock them up for ransom” – which is exactly what Clorox says happened in its case.
In fact, Clorox’s lawsuit claims suggest it was almost… easy.
Deep Dive Analysis: The Real Issues of the Clorox Hack
The company alleges that one of the group’s hackers was able to repeatedly steal employees' passwords simply by calling the IT desk with its service provider - Cognizant - and simply asking for credentials. And while the hackers were posing as Clorox employees, Clorox alleges the service desk didn’t ask for verification details of any kind.
Reuters reviewed the lawsuit documents, which included call transcripts and other details showing just how basic the scheme was. According to the suit, "Cognizant was not duped by any elaborate ploy or sophisticated hacking techniques … Cognizant handed the credentials right over."
Clorox said that the hack resulted in $380 million in damages, a large chunk of which came from the company’s inability to ship its goods in the immediate aftermath of the attack.
Cognizant issued the following statement to Industrial Equipment News (IEN) regarding the incident:
"It is shocking that a corporation the size of Clorox had such an inept internal cybersecurity system to mitigate this attack. Clorox has tried to blame us for these failures, but the reality is that Clorox hired Cognizant for a narrow scope of help desk services which Cognizant reasonably performed. Cognizant did not manage cybersecurity for Clorox."
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WEBVTT
X-TIMESTAMP-MAP=LOCAL:00:00:00.000,MPEGTS:0
00:00.009 --> 00:05.519
In 2024, IBM identified the manufacturing
sector as the industry most attacked by
00:05.519 --> 00:10.319
cybercriminals for the third straight year,
which is why we see even the biggest brands
00:10.319 --> 00:15.000
being impacted by the work of hackers.
Bleach maker Clorox is coming clean about the
00:15.000 --> 00:19.959
details surrounding a recent ransomware attack,
but the finger pointing extends past the gang
00:19.959 --> 00:23.510
of perpetrators and all the way to the
company's IT provider,
00:23.719 --> 00:28.287
and Clorox believes that the IT firm's
faults in this situation were so egregious that
00:28.287 --> 00:30.037
it has filed a lawsuit.
00:30.326 --> 00:35.117
The suit points to a 2023 incident in which
hackers from the group Scattered Spider
00:35.367 --> 00:37.806
targeted several firms.
According to Reuters,
00:37.926 --> 00:42.687
Scattered Spider is particularly adept at
tricking IT help desks into handing over
00:42.687 --> 00:45.876
credentials and then using that access to lock
them up for ransom,
00:46.126 --> 00:49.326
which is exactly what Clorox says happened in
its case.
00:49.606 --> 00:54.083
In fact, Clorox's lawsuit
claims suggest it was almost easy.
00:54.293 --> 00:59.094
The company alleges that one of the group's
hackers was able to repeatedly steal employees'
00:59.094 --> 01:02.923
passwords simply by calling the IT desk with
its service provider,
01:03.094 --> 01:08.094
Cognizant, and simply asking for credentials.
And while the hackers were posing as Clorox
01:08.094 --> 01:13.753
employees, Clorox alleges the service desk
didn't ask for verification details of any kind.
01:14.013 --> 01:18.541
Reuters reviewed the lawsuit documents, which
included transcripts and other details showing
01:18.541 --> 01:20.011
just how basic the scheme was.
01:20.221 --> 01:25.710
According to the suit, Cognizant was not duped
by any elaborate ploy or sophisticated hacking
01:25.710 --> 01:29.051
techniques.
Cognizant handed the credentials right over.
01:29.221 --> 01:33.621
Clorox said that the hack resulted in $380
million in damages,
01:33.740 --> 01:38.380
a large chunk of which came from the company's
inability to ship its goods in the immediate
01:38.380 --> 01:40.070
aftermath of the attack.
01:40.380 --> 01:42.100
I'm Anna Wells.
This is Manufacturing Now.
