We, and third parties with whom we work, employ and are increasingly dependent upon information technology systems, infrastructure, applications, websites and other resources. Our business requires collecting, receiving, manipulating, analyzing, storing, processing, generating, using, disclosing, protecting, securing, transmitting, sharing, disposing of, and making accessible (collectively "process") large amounts of data, including proprietary, confidential and sensitive data (such as personal or health-related data), intellectual property, and trade secrets (collectively, "sensitive information"). As a result, we and the third parties with whom we work face a variety of evolving threats that could cause security incidents.
Cyber-attacks, malicious internet-based activity, online and offline fraud and other similar activities threaten the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of our sensitive information and information technology systems, and those of the third parties with whom we work. Such threats are prevalent and continue to increase, are increasingly difficult to detect, and come from a variety of sources, including traditional computer "hackers," threat actors "hacktivists," organized criminal threat actors, personnel (such as through theft or misuse), sophisticated nation-states, and nation-state-supported actors. Some actors now engage and are expected to continue to engage in cyber-attacks, including without limitation nation-state actors, for geopolitical reasons and in conjunction with military conflicts and defense activities. During times of war and other major conflicts, we and the third parties with whom we work may be vulnerable to a heightened risk of these attacks, including retaliatory cyber-attacks, that could materially disrupt our systems and operations, supply chain, and ability to produce, sell and distribute our goods and services. We and the third parties with whom we work may be subject to a variety of evolving threats, including but not limited to social-engineering attacks (including through deep fakes, which may be increasingly more difficult to identify as fake, and phishing attacks), malicious code (such as viruses and worms), malware (including as a result of advanced persistent threat intrusions), denial-of-service attacks (such as credential stuffing), credentials harvesting, personnel misconduct or error, ransomware attacks, supply-chain attacks, software bugs, server malfunctions, software or hardware failures, loss of data or other information technology assets, adware, attached enhanced or facilitated by AI, telecommunications failures, earthquakes, fires, floods, attacks enhanced or facilitated by artificial intelligence, and other similar threats. Ransomware attacks, including by organized criminal threat actors, nation-states, and nation-state-supported actors, are becoming increasingly prevalent and severe and can lead to significant interruptions in our operations, loss of data and income, reputational harm, and diversion of funds. Extortion payments may alleviate the negative impact of a ransomware attack, but we may be unwilling or unable to make such payments due to, for example, applicable laws or regulations prohibiting such payments. Some of our workforce works remotely, which also poses increased risks to our information technology systems and data, as employees working from home, in transit or in public locations, utilize network connections, computers and devices outside our premises or network. Future or past business transactions (such as acquisitions or integrations) could expose us to additional cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities, as our systems could be negatively affected by vulnerabilities present in acquired or integrated entities' systems and technologies. Furthermore, we may discover security issues that were not found during due diligence of such acquired or integrated entities, and it may be difficult to integrate companies into our information technology environment and security program.
We rely on third parties and technologies to operate critical business systems to process sensitive information in a variety of contexts, including, without limitation, cloud-based infrastructure, data center facilities, encryption and authentication technology, employee email, and other functions. We also rely on third-party service providers to provide other products or services, or otherwise to operate our business. For example, we rely on an enterprise software system to operate and manage our business. Our business, including our ability to manufacture drug products and conduct clinical trials, therefore depends on the continuous, effective, reliable and secure operation of our information technology resources and those of third parties with whom we work, including computer hardware, software, networks, Internet servers and related infrastructure. Our ability to monitor these third parties' information security practices is limited, and these third parties may not have adequate information security measures in place. If our third-party service providers experience a security incident or other interruption, we could experience adverse consequences. In particular, supply-chain attacks have increased in frequency and severity, and we cannot guarantee that third parties and infrastructure in our supply chain or our third-party partners' supply chains have not been compromised or that they do not contain exploitable defects or bugs that could result in a breach of or disruption to our information technology systems (including our products) or the third-party information technology systems that support us and our services. While we may be entitled to damages if our third-party service providers fail to satisfy their privacy or security-related obligations to us, any award may be insufficient to cover our damages, or we may be unable to recover such award.
While we have implemented security measures designed to protect against security incidents, there can be no assurance that these measures will be effective. We take steps designed to detect, mitigate and remediate vulnerabilities in our information technology systems (such as our hardware and/or software, including that of third parties with whom we work), but we may not be able to detect, mitigate, and remediate all such vulnerabilities including on a timely basis. It may also be difficult and/or costly to detect, investigate, mitigate, contain, and remediate a security incident. Further, we may experience delays in developing and deploying remedial measures and patches designed to address identified vulnerabilities, which could be exploited and result in a security incident. Actions taken by us or the third parties with whom we work to detect, investigate, mitigate, contain, and remediate a security incident could result in outages, data losses, and disruptions of our business. Threat actors may also gain access to other networks and systems after a compromise of our networks and systems. We have in the past experienced security incidents. For example, like many companies, we use SolarWinds to help manage our information technology systems. A cyber-attack on SolarWinds was discovered in December 2020 and widely exploited by threat actors. Upon learning of this vulnerability, we applied the software patch provided by SolarWinds and remediated the incident. The incident did not appear to have any negative impact on our operations or the sensitive information we may process. In addition, a ransomware attack on Ultimate Kronos Group's ("UKG") Kronos Private Cloud service was discovered in December 2021. At the time, we used UKG Pro, a product offered through UKG that is not in the Kronos Private Cloud, for human capital management. UKG is not aware of an impact on UKG Pro and the incident did not appear to have any negative impact on our operations or the sensitive information we may process. These incidents illustrate that despite our efforts to identify and remediate vulnerabilities, if any, in our information technology systems, our efforts may not be successful.
Any of the previously identified or similar threats could cause a security incident or other interruption that could result in unauthorized, unlawful, or accidental acquisition, modification, destruction, loss, alteration, encryption, disclosure of, or access to our sensitive information or our information technology systems, or those of the third parties with whom we work. A security incident or other interruption could disrupt our ability (and that of third parties with whom we work) to provide our products. We may expend significant resources or modify our business activities (including our clinical trial activities) to try to protect against security incidents. Certain data privacy and security obligations may require us to implement and maintain specific security measures, industry-standards or reasonable security measures to protect our information technology systems and sensitive information.
Applicable data privacy and security obligations may require us, or we may voluntarily choose, to notify relevant stakeholders, including affected individuals, customers, regulators, and investors, of security incidents, or to take other actions, such as providing credit monitoring and identity theft protection services. Such disclosures and related actions can be costly, and the disclosures or the failure to comply with such applicable requirements could lead to adverse consequences. If we (or a third party with whom we work) experience a security incident or are perceived to have experienced a security incident, we may experience adverse consequences. These consequences may include: government enforcement actions (for example, investigations, fines, penalties, audits, and inspections); additional reporting requirements and/or oversight; restrictions on processing sensitive information (including personal data); litigation (including class claims); indemnification obligations; negative publicity; reputational harm; monetary fund diversions; diversion of management attention; interruptions in our operations (including availability of data); financial loss; and other similar harms. Security incidents and attendant consequences may cause customers to stop using our products, deter new customers from using our products, and negatively impact our ability to grow and operate our business. Additionally, our contracts may not contain limitations of liability, and even where they do, there can be no assurance that limitations of liability in our contracts are sufficient to protect us from liabilities, damages, or claims related to our data privacy and security obligations. We cannot be sure that our cybersecurity insurance coverage will be adequate or sufficient to protect us from or to mitigate liabilities arising out of our privacy and security practices, that such coverage will continue to be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all, or that such coverage will pay future claims.
In addition to experiencing a security incident, third parties may gather, collect, or infer sensitive information about us from public sources, data brokers, or other means that reveals competitively sensitive details about our organization and could be used to undermine our competitive advantage or market position. Sensitive information of the Company or our customers could also be leaked, disclosed, or revealed as a result of or in connection with our employees', personnel's, or vendors' use of generative artificial intelligence ("AI") technologies.