Payroll services at some firms disrupted after Kronos cyber attack

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Payroll and timekeeping services at organisations that use Kronos HR software have been disrupted after it suffered a cyber attack which has forced its system offline.
Parent company Ultimate Kronos Group (UKG) warned that Kronos Private Cloud had been hit by a ransomware attack and had been taken offline, which had affected employers that use UKG Workforce Central, UKG TeleStaff, Healthcare Extensions, and Banking Scheduling Solutions.
In a message posted on its support forums, which was also emailed to customers, executive vice president Bob Hughes said it could be several weeks before the systems are back online.
“Given that it may take up to several weeks to restore system availability, we strongly recommend that you evaluate and implement alternative business continuity protocols related to the affected UKG solutions,” he said.
“We deeply regret the impact this is having on you, and we are continuing to take all appropriate actions to remediate the situation. We recognise the seriousness of this issue.”

Hughes added that the company was working the cyber security experts to investigate the nature and scope of the attack, which had been reported to the police.
Customers questioned whether any of their data had been compromised or lost, and asked why there was no back-up arrangement.
“This going to to be a huge hardship for our employees that depend on the premium pay such as night diff, meals, overtime,” one said.
Cyber security experts have warned that the attack is likely put significant pressure on HR teams in the busy weeks before Christmas.
“The estimated outage time of several weeks is likely to have a significant impact on organisations as they try to close the year while managing not only basic payroll, but also the bonuses and other annu