Sep 19, 2023 - Economy & Business

Clorox cyberattack leads to product shortages

Illustration of empty store shelves, with a sign that has a shrug emoji on it.

Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios

Some cleaning products, including disinfecting wipes and bleach, are in short supply after a cybersecurity attack at the Clorox Company.

Driving the news: The Clorox Company said it is "operating at a lower rate of order processing and has recently begun to experience an elevated level of consumer product availability issues."

  • Clorox first announced the attack in August but said Monday that it is now causing "widespread disruption."
  • This comes as MGM Resorts International struggles to contain the public impact of a cyberattack that has snarled business for more than a week at one of the U.S.'s largest casino operators.

What happened: Clorox said in a regulatory filing Monday that it detected unauthorized activity in some of its information technology systems and "took immediate steps to stop and remediate the activity, including taking certain systems offline."

  • The company wouldn't comment on what products are most impacted by the shortages.

What's next: The company said it has "already resumed production at the vast majority of its manufacturing sites and expects the ramp up to full production to occur over time."

  • "At this time, the company cannot estimate how long it will take to resume fully normalized operations," Clorox said.

The bottom line: Shoppers looking for the affected products should have an easier time finding them than the early days of COVID.

  • Axios found some Clorox products with limited availability in Target and Walmart stores across the county. But many of the items were available for delivery.

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