A RANSOMWARE attack will likely affect how some employers can pay Christmas paychecks, experts have warned.
Hackers attacked one of the largest human resource companies over the weekend and it could be weeks before things are back to normal – here’s how to check if you’re affected.
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A ransomware attack usually involves a hacker encrypting a victim’s files and then demanding money so the victim can get access back.
The attack on HR management software company Ultimate Kronos Group (UKG) has left some companies worried that they can’t pay staff until the problem is sorted.
UKG is said to have around 50,000 customers across the globe.
It said it could take several weeks to restore its systems, meaning some of the companies it provides software to are struggling to track hours and pay staff accordingly.
Is my paycheck affected by the UKG ransomware attack?
The hack affected dozens of companies that use the Kronos Private Cloud software.
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This includes government organizations.
Affected companies have been alerted by UKG so your work should know if its going to have issues paying you.
The hack is said to have impacted software used by health care systems, finance companies and public safety jobs.
A lot of companies have already told their staff that they’ve been affected so your employer should have told you if you’ll be impacted.
Affected companies include New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority and hospital staff in San Angelo, Texas.
A number of US universities have also reported being affected.
This includes the University of Utah, George Washington University and Yeshiva University in New York.
Whether your paycheck has been affected or not will depend on how your employer was using the hacked software that’s currently offline.
Your employer might be able to send a paper paycheck while the Kronos software is down.
If your company was using it to track hours, you may be given a generic paycheck with a baseline number of hours until the figures can be corrected.
Your employer should also inform you if any of your personal data was breached in the hack.
Erich Kron, Security Awareness Advocate at KnowBe4, told The Sun US: “The timing of this attack, so close to the Christmas and other seasonal holidays and the end of the year, is bound to put significant pressure on organizations that have been using the impacted KPC services to manage payroll and other time-sensitive functions within their organizations.
“The estimated outage time of several weeks is likely to have a significant impact on organizations as they try to close the year while managing not only basic payroll, but also the bonuses and other annual calculations that need to take place.
“Ransomware gangs often time attacks to take place when organizations are short-staffed due to holidays, or when they are extremely busy, with the hope that the attack will take longer to spot and response times will be much slower.”
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