Another major pharmacy chain is closing due to a possible cyber attack
Canadian pharmacy chain London Drugs suffered a cyber incident that forced the company to temporarily close its stores in Western Canada.
On Sunday evening, the company published a brief update on X, saying it was “experiencing an operational issue.”
“Pharmacists are ready to assist with urgent pharmacy needs,” the tweet read. “We advise customers to call their local store pharmacy to make appointments.” The company is headquartered in Richmond, Canada and has at least 78 stores across the country.
Forensic experts were called in
Typically, companies shut down their systems and services when attacked by ransomware, in an effort to stop attackers from exfiltrating sensitive data. In this case, London Drugs has yet to confirm the nature of the incident, but told CBC it has closed its stores “out of an abundance of caution.”
“At this time we have no reason to believe that customer or employee data has been compromised,” the company told CBC News late Sunday.
After discovering the incident, the company brought in external forensic experts to investigate and help resolve the issue.
“We want to assure you that this incident is our highest priority,” the company said in a statement.
Due to the sensitivity of the customer data they store, healthcare organizations are a prime target for cybercriminals. Earlier this year, Change Healthcare confirmed it had suffered a major attack that crippled operations and even affected local pharmacies. At the time of the incident (late February this year), local media in some US states reported that pharmacies were experiencing disruptions and that some companies were unable to process prescriptions through patient insurance.
The company ultimately paid more than $20 million in ransoms in exchange for the data it never received. So far, no hacking group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Through CBC News