Hackers disrupt payroll for thousands of employers — including hospitals

A month-old ransomware attack is still causing administrative chaos for millions of people, including 20,000 public transit workers in the New York City metro area, public service workers in Cleveland, employees of FedEx and Whole Foods, and medical workers across the country who were already dealing with an omicron surge that has filled hospitals and exacerbated worker shortages.

In the weeks since the attack knocked out Kronos Private Cloud – a service that includes some of the nation's most popular workforce management software – employees from Montana to Florida have reported paychecks short by hundreds or thousands of dollars, as their employers have struggled to manage schedules and track hours without the help of the Kronos software.

Though Ultimate Kronos Group, the company that makes Kronos, says thatit expects systems will be back online by the end of January, affected employers say they don't yet know for sure when they will actually be able to access their systems and information.