CVS and Walmart Canada data compromised

CVS and Walmart Canada data compromised

CVS and Walmart Canada suffered an online breach into their photo-handling site

According to separate statements released by CVS and Walmart Canada, a Canadian information technology vendor may have potentially leaked credit card data possibly affecting millions of users reported by The New York Times.

The two retailers have temporarily suspended their internet photo database services and associated mobile services. The severity of the breach hasn’t yet been determined, but the two companies have exhorted customers to scrutinize credit card records.

PNI Digital Media, the third party merchant, hosts the companies photo sites and stores customers’ payment transactions and profiles. In addition, PNI’s investor relations page also details that it services Cosco. But on Friday the page was discontinued, however, Cosco’s site appears to be functioning normally.

PNI is a subsidiary of Staples, which was victimized by an online data intrusion of its own in 2014. A spokesman for Staples authenticated PNI’s investigation into a credit card hack. “If an issue is discovered, it is important to note that consumers are not responsible for any fraudulent activity on their credit cards that is reported on a timely basis,” he said. “We take the protection of information very seriously.”

I.T. vendors are more suspectable to attacks as scores of franchises continue to outsource their technology operations. According to Adam Levin, founder of IDT911, an online security firm, “Breaches have become a certainty in life, and everybody’s got to step up their game,” he said. “Even if the problem stems from a vendor, the retailer’s reputation is harmed, and it ends up in the middle of lawsuits.”

Nonetheless, a CVS spokesman substantiated that their pharmacy’s e-commerce site was conducted separately and remained secure, and

Erin Pensa, a CVS spokeswoman, said that the pharmacy chain’s main e-commerce site, as well as sites dedicated to contact lens sales and the chain’s medical clinics, were managed separately and were unaffected. “Nothing is more central to us than protecting the privacy and security of our customer information, including financial information,” Ms. Pensa said, and is working intimately with PNI and other credit card companies.

A spokesman for Walmart Canada, Marilee McInnis, said in a statement that the retailer’s photo processing site in the United States or its central e-commerce hubs in Canada and the United States were compromised. “Our customers’ privacy is of the utmost importance. We immediately launched an investigation and will be contacting customers who may be impacted,” Ms. McInnis said. Canadian authorities have been notified and are directing their own investigation.

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