The online photo printing websites of big box retailers such as Costco, Sam's Club and Walmart Canada have been taken down over fears that their hosting service has become the target of a cyberattack.
Vancouver-based PNI Media, which is owned by Staples, hosts and manages the photo printing websites in its own servers. Costco and Sam's Club's photo printing sites are the latest to temporarily shut down its services following PNI's statement last week that it was investigating the possibility of a security breach into its system.
"We take the protection of information very seriously," says Kirk Saville, vice president of global communications at Staples, in a statement sent to Reuters. "PNI is investigating a potential credit card data issue, and outside security experts are assisting in the investigation."
Drugstore chain Rite Aid and Britain's supermarket chain Tesco are also among the retailers that could be possibly affected. Previously, the website walmartphotocentre.ca, which is owned by Wal-Mart Canada, went down following reports that hackers could have potentially accessed the credit card information of its customers. This was immediately followed by CVS Health taking down CVSphoto.com, the pharmacy chain's photo printing website.
Some retailers say they have disabled their websites after being issued a warning from PNI that hackers could potentially have access to the private information of their clients. Others report they have not received a warning from PNI but shut down their websites on their own accord. Some websites, including those owned by Costco Canada and RiteAid, say their customers' credit card information were not captured because the websites do not collect these information.
Customers of CVS and Wal-Mart Canada, however, could be vulnerable if a hack actually occurred. Both companies warn their customers to monitor their credit card charges and keep an eagle eye out for dubious-looking transactions. Meanwhile, Tesco's website does not explain why it has gone down, and it remains to be seen if the retailer plans to communicate with its customers regarding a potential data breach.
It is important to note that any security breach is likely limited only to the retailers' photo printing websites, while their main websites reserved for their primary business remain secure. It appears that news of a potential breach did not affect the companies' stocks performance.
Photo: Mike Mozart | Flickr
