Third-Party Helpdesk Breach (Clorox Case)
Intel Alert
Impacted Domains: Operational, Financial, Reputational
Impacted Industries: Consumer Goods, Manufacturing
Date: July 29, 2025
A third-party helpdesk failure triggered a $380M cyberattack on Clorox — exposing the steep financial and operational cost of weak IT controls and unmanaged vendor risk.
So What:
The breach halted production, disrupted supply chains, slashed revenue, and inflicted long-term reputational damage. Manufacturers with vulnerable IT support pathways or poor incident-response coordination face similar high-impact exposure.
Risk Value:
$50M–$380M for mid-size manufacturers, depending on downtime, remediation, and supply-chain disruption.
Mitigation Cost:
$1.5M–$15M for helpdesk hardening, identity controls, vendor oversight, and crisis readiness.
What to Do:
Audit identity reset processes and enforce multifactor, multi-person approval for all elevated access.
Monitor helpdesk interactions using voice, behavior, and anomaly verification tools.
Conduct crisis-response drills with vendors to test containment, escalation, and communication flows.
Add enforceable incident-reporting, security controls, and communication protocols into vendor contracts.
Risk AIQ Score: 9