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The Estée Lauder Companies Targeted by Worldwide Cybersecurity Breach

The cosmetic company’s servers have been down since at least Monday, and it is unsure when the affected systems will be restored.
Estée Lauder storefront.
The Estée Lauder Companies were targeted by a worldwide cybersecurity breach. (Shutterstock)

Employees at The Estée Lauder Companies offices around the world remain locked out of their email and other key functions after a third party gained access to some of the beauty conglomerate’s IT systems, according to people familiar with the situation.

The company said in a statement Tuesday that it “believes the unauthorised party obtained some data from its systems, and the company is working to understand the nature and scope of that data.”

ELC, which owns Tom Ford Beauty, Clinique, La Mer and other cosmetics brands, also said it was working with law enforcement and cybersecurity experts to resolve the issue. Sources close to the company said the breach disrupted operations since at least Monday, and that many affected systems had yet to be restored.

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