The president of London Drugs doesnB次元官网网址檛 know why the company was targeted in a cyber attack that forced it to close its stores for more than week, but Clint Mahlman says hackers with sophisticated methods are B次元官网网址渃onstantly probing for weaknessesB次元官网网址� of online systems.
Mahlman said in an interview that the Richmond, B.C.-based pharmacy and retailer had been preparing for such a situation for years, and they shut down immediately after the cybersecurity breach was discovered April 28 in order to contain the threat.
Since then, Mahlman said London Drugs has been working with cybersecurity experts to B次元官网网址渕ethodically go through every systemB次元官网网址� and bring them back online in a secure way.
B次元官网网址淲e wonB次元官网网址檛 reopen a system until we have the confidence that it is as good as we can possibly make it,B次元官网网址� he said.
He said the company has no evidence to suggest that customer data was compromised.
Mahlman said he has no knowledge if the breach might be connected to B.C. Premier David EbyB次元官网网址檚 announcement late Wednesday that the province had detected B次元官网网址渟ophisticated cybersecurity incidentsB次元官网网址� involving government networks.
Mahlman wouldnB次元官网网址檛 share B次元官网网址渄etails of any interactions with the threat actors.B次元官网网址�
He said heB次元官网网址檚 sorry that the company couldnB次元官网网址檛 release more details in the days after the incident, but they didnB次元官网网址檛 want to give the attackers any leverage.
B次元官网网址淭he cybersecurity experts deal with these people all the time, and as such, they see certain behaviours from certain threat actors,B次元官网网址� he said.
Mahlman said hackers look at media reports about the cyber attacks, assessing whether the company is aware of the extent of the breach and its ability to recover.
B次元官网网址淭hey use that information to either sustain their attack or leverage in some sort of way against the company.B次元官网网址�
London Drugs will not knowingly give hackers that leverage, Mahlman said.
B次元官网网址淲e apologize to the media and our customers that we couldnB次元官网网址檛 have given more details that they want, but thatB次元官网网址檚 our commitment to the safety and security of our systems and our customers.B次元官网网址�
London Drugs said on Tuesday that all 79 of its stores in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba had reopened, and Mahlman said it was a B次元官网网址渧ery big stepB次元官网网址� to shut down its systems companywide to B次元官网网址渃ontain and mitigate any potential damage.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淭he level of sophistication and expertise of these international cyber threat actors is significant,B次元官网网址� Mahlman said.
In the B.C. government incident, Eby said provincial authorities were working with the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security and other agencies to determine the extent of the problem, but there was currently no evidence that sensitive information had been compromised.
Mahlman said the investigation was ongoing with the help of cybersecurity experts from across the continent, and more work needed to be done to determine what information could have been accessed.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e never had to shut down all our stores before,B次元官网网址� Mahlman said. B次元官网网址淚 think the public may be shocked to know, and this is far from unique to London Drugs.B次元官网网址�
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