Indigo latest target in string of cyberattacks on Canadian businesses
A cybersecurity incident that took Indigo Books & Music Inc.’s website and electronic payment systems offline is the latest in a series of cyberattacks experts say are increasingly targeting Canadian businesses.
A cybersecurity incident that took Indigo Books & Music Inc.’s website and electronic payment systems offline is the latest in a series of cyberattacks experts say are increasingly targeting Canadian businesses.
“It’s really turned into the Wild West out there and companies are struggling,” Robert Falzon, chief technical officer at Check Point Canada, said in an interview Thursday.
“We will see these more frequently and the damage will last longer as organizations continue to grapple with the adoption of cloud technology and the explosion of artificial intelligence. Almost anyone can be a junior hacker and start creating malware. “
Indigo’s website has been down since Wednesday afternoon. While the bookseller can process cash orders in-store, it cannot process electronic payments, accept gift cards, or process returns.
Indigo said it is working with third-party experts to investigate and resolve the situation and hopes to get its systems back online as soon as possible.
In response to customer questions about the service outage on Twitter, the company said it was working to recover its systems and “understand if customer data was accessed.”
Indigo also said customers who recently purchased items online may experience delays with some or all of their orders.
The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner of Canada is aware of the matter and is in communication with the organization “to obtain further information, including a formal breach report, and to determine next steps,” spokesman Vito Pilieci said in an email.
Canadian retailers have experienced an increasing number of cyber attacks in recent months.
Sobey’s parent company, Empire Co. Ltd., recently faced a security breach that paralyzed pharmacy services and other functions in the store.
Due to the cybersecurity event in early November, customers were unable to fill prescriptions for four days, while other in-store features such as self-checkout, gift card use and loyalty point redemption were offline for about a week.
Empire said in December the incident is expected to cost $25 million after insurance reimbursed.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on February 9, 2023
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Brett Bundale, The Canadian Press