A Month After Ransomware Attack, Hundreds of Workers Are Still Owed Pay
NBC News tells the story of Rich, a Coca-Cola delivery driver who didn't get a paycheck at Christmas because of a ransomware attack on the payroll company serving Coke's largest distributor. But then "more than a month after hackers crippled Kronos," paychecks to its employees in Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia "have been sporadic, according to union representatives." Rich, who asked not to be identified by his last name for fear of retaliation from his employer, is among hundreds of workers who deliver Coke products in at least three states who say they're still owed wages — fallout from one of the many ransomware attacks that hit U.S. companies practically every day. Rich, a father of three, said he's had to dip into his savings, which have dwindled down in recent weeks. "They went from $1,100, $1,200 a week to $300, $600," he said of his paychecks. "I got one $300 paycheck, and I called and told them exactly what I needed paid, and they sent me a $46 check...." "We've got 130 people and they've all got problems," said Max Zemla, the president of the Cleveland-area Teamsters Local 293. "Some are telling me they're not as bad off. I have a guy who's off a thousand dollars. Uses his money for his kid's tuition for school, and he's not able to pay it...." "The timekeeping vendor Kronos that suffered the attack is in the process of coming back online," [said Josh Gelinas, Coca-Cola Consolidated's vice president of communications February 1st] in an emailed statement. "But, until these digital systems are fully restored, we must continue manually recording work hours for thousands of our teammates. This process is taking longer than we would like and may have resulted in some inconsistencies, but our teammates will be paid for every hour they've worked...." [NBC reports that a spokesperson for Kronos "noted that the company announced on Jan. 22 that it had finally restored all its services."] Jeff Combs, the secretary treasurer of Teamsters Local 135 in Indianapolis, said the vast majority of the roughly 200 Coca-Cola Consolidated employees he represents are still owed pay. "Some are still owed as high as $4,700," Combs said. Rich complains to NBC News that "now my savings have dwindled down because a billion-dollar company can't give you an average paycheck." But it shows ransomware's effects ultimately reach farther than we realize. "It's often assumed that ransomware mainly affects governments and major corporations because it's those incidents that make the news," a ransomware analyst at Emsisoft tells NBC News. "The reality, however, is that more than half of all ransomware victims are small businesses and individuals. And, unfortunately, they are usually not as well prepared to deal with the problem as larger organizations and probably feel more pain as a result."
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