Several large retailers have shut down their online photo printing websites following a possible data breach at a third-party photo service.
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CVS, Costco, Sam’s Club, Walmart Canada, and Rite Aid took down their services that allow people to upload digital images and pick up prints at their stores.
It’s not just American sites which have been affected either – Tesco also took its service down (which again is run by PNI), and indeed as of the time of writing this morning, Tesco Photo is still not back up. “PNI is investigating a potential credit card data issue, and outside security experts are assisting in the investigation”.
Pharmacy chain Rite Aid Corp.
Chain Store Age noted that an online message on the Sam’s Club site notified users of a “potential compromise of a third-party vendor”, but the business stated that it does not believe credit card information was exposed.
All four companies say that their other websites aren’t affected by the possible hacking. Others report they have not received a warning from PNI but shut down their websites on their own accord. Numerous retailers didn’t actually process their customers’ credit cards through their photo sites, for example.
Customers of CVS and Wal-Mart Canada, however, could be vulnerable if a hack actually occurred. However, CVS and Wal-Mart Canada are urging customers to keep an eye on their bank statements.
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While it’s always a nightmare when customer data is hacked because of retail transactions, this one may be quite limited in scope. It appears that news of a potential breach did not affect the companies’ stocks performance.
