22 votes

London Drugs closes stores until further notice due to cyberattack

Posted by unkz
Tags: canada, london drugs, hacking, ransomware, closures, retail, stores.drug, security.cyber, cyberattacks, source.cbc
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/london-drugs-closure-western-canada-1.7187615

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Title
No word on London Drugs stores' reopening after Sunday cyberattack | CBC News
Published
Apr 29 2024
Word count
348 words

7 comments

  1. [3]
    unkz
    Link
    This is a pretty big deal. There's some chance that millions of Canadians have had their private medical information leaked from one of the largest pharmacies in the country. This could lead to...

    This is a pretty big deal. There's some chance that millions of Canadians have had their private medical information leaked from one of the largest pharmacies in the country. This could lead to widespread blackmailing of regular people among other things.

    The article I posted first says they don't think any private information was compromised. However, the latest news says,

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/london-drugs-stores-remain-closed-1.7189160

    "Our investigation is currently assessing the extent to which any data has been compromised in the incident. In the event our investigation determines that personal information was impacted, we will notify affected individuals in accordance with privacy laws," the statement said. 

    12 votes
    1. [2]
      teaearlgraycold
      Link Parent
      I'm curious what kind of blackmailing would take place as a result.

      I'm curious what kind of blackmailing would take place as a result.

      1 vote
      1. unkz
        Link Parent
        The ones that come immediately to mind that could be easily deduced from medication history: STDs such as HIV or herpes have specific non-antibiotic treatments mental illnesses or disorders...

        The ones that come immediately to mind that could be easily deduced from medication history:

        • STDs such as HIV or herpes have specific non-antibiotic treatments
        • mental illnesses or disorders
        • substance abuse treatment, eg. methadone or buprenorphine

        Any of these could represent a risk if they were disclosed to employers, friends, or family.

        8 votes
  2. JCPhoenix
    Link
    Hackers really stepping it up. In my city alone in the past several months, we've had a hospital come under cyberattack; bad enough they had to close their doors and send some patients to other...

    Hackers really stepping it up. In my city alone in the past several months, we've had a hospital come under cyberattack; bad enough they had to close their doors and send some patients to other hospitals. The county got hacked and was down for a number of weeks. And then the latest was our highway traffic/signage system got hacked.

    I suppose this'll keep happening until companies, and even individuals, start taking security seriously. Sure, we'll never get stop these completely, but we can do better. A lot better.

    5 votes
  3. Pistos
    Link
    Precious little technical detail in the article (at the time of this writing). I'm curious to learn more as the story unfolds.

    Precious little technical detail in the article (at the time of this writing). I'm curious to learn more as the story unfolds.

    4 votes
  4. digitalphil
    Link
    This is a bad indicator of what could happen in the future. I read, "customers were encouraged to call their pharmacists if they had urgent needs." That may be so, but, that doesn't negate the...

    This is a bad indicator of what could happen in the future. I read, "customers were encouraged to call their pharmacists if they had urgent needs." That may be so, but, that doesn't negate the fact that is still impacting may people's routine access to their medications.
    It's not a stretch to think that this type of attack on a system could be weaponised, like any other infrastructure for a country.

    3 votes
  5. gowestyoungman
    Link
    Im surprised its taking this long to get the stores back up and running unless its a blackmail hack and the higher ups are refusing to pay ransom. Either way, London Drugs is a very popular chain,...

    Im surprised its taking this long to get the stores back up and running unless its a blackmail hack and the higher ups are refusing to pay ransom. Either way, London Drugs is a very popular chain, this is affecting a lot of people.

    2 votes