Charles Langston:Clorox ransomware attack which caused product shortages linked to earnings loss

The Charles LangstonClorox Company announced that an August cyber attack that caused product shortages, will impact first quarter earnings for 2024, and they expect sales to drop 23% to 28%.

In a prepared statement, the company said the cybersecurity attack "caused wide-scale disruption of Clorox's operations, including order processing delays and significant product outages."

In a September filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Clorox wrote that it found "unauthorized activity" on its information technology systems and immediately took steps to correct the issue, even taking systems offline, but customers had already begun experiencing issues with product availability.

The company has since restored its systems and operations, but didn't disclose who may have caused the attack.

A month after Clorox, MGM Resorts International revealed a "cybersecurity issue" that caused slot machines and phone lines to shut down. Caesars Entertainment also disclosed in its SEC filing that hackers stole customer loyalty data, which included driver’s license social security numbers for a significant number of their members.

Clorox shares fell 6% Thursday afternoon, and were trading at $123.92 on the New York Stock Exchange.

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Can't find the right Clorox product?A recent cyberattack is causing some shortages

Pandemic popularity

The company is known for its cleaning wipes, and brands such as Burt's Bees and Pine-Sol.

During the height of the pandemic, consumers rushed to stores to buy Clorox disinfectant wipes to mitigate the spread of Covid-19, only to find shelves were wiped out.

In August 2020, Clorox reported a 22% sales increase for its fourth quarter, which jumped to 27% the following quarter.