Sainsbury’s is one of the largest firms in the United Kingdom and the United States that has been hit by a cyber-attack on a payroll system supplier.
On Saturday, Kronos revealed it was dealing with a ransomware assault on its computer systems.
Kronos is used by many firms, including Sainsbury’s, to record, store, and process the hours its employees have worked.
According to sources, the supermarket chain has lost a week’s worth of data for its 150,000 UK employees. However, they asserted that they would be paid before Christmas.
To ensure that employees are paid the appropriate amount on time, many departments, including payroll, human resources (HR), and accounting, are now using previous data and work patterns to verify that employees are compensated correctly.
When a computer network is infected with ransomware, sensitive data is encrypted and ransom demands are made.
“We’re in touch with Kronos while they look into a technical problem,” said a Sainsbury’s rep. Meanwhile, we’re making plans to ensure that our coworkers continue to be paid.
Kronos, a firm based in Massachusetts and founded by the UKG group, provides cloud payroll services such as an automated payment system.
Some services would be inaccessible for weeks, it warned. Customers should “thoroughly examine and put into practice alternate business continuity practices,” the notice added.
According to NBC News, the UK supermarket chain Wholefoods and automobile manufacturer Honda North America have both been affected by Kronos.
Honda UK said nothing has changed. A UKG representative said: “We recently discovered a ransomware attack that has disrupted the Kronos Private Cloud, which houses solutions utilized by a few of our clients.
It had taken timely action to investigate and address the problem, alerting clients who were affected.
UKG stated, “We appreciate the gravity of the problem and have deployed all available resources to assist our customers while also working hard to restore the disrupted services.”