London Drugs issues apology as stores reopen following cyberattack

After its 79 stores were forced to close due to a cybersecurity incident, London Drugs’ president issued an apology to its customers Wednesday.

London Drugs president and COO Clint Mahlman reiterated that the company customer’s data was not compromised.

Mahlman added that the company is committed to its “robust contingency plans” which in the event of a security breach, he says, includes the immediate shutdown of all systems.

“As soon as we became aware of suspicious activity in our environment, we immediately engaged third-party cybersecurity specialists from across North America to assist with containment, mitigation, and to conduct a forensic investigation. This resulted in an immediate company-wide shutdown of operations.”

Mahlman explained the specialists found no evidence of any breach to its customer databases, including health data or LD Extras members.

“Should we discover any evidence that customer information was impacted, we will inform our customers and privacy commissioners in accordance with privacy laws,” Mahlman said.

The retail chain closed every location across B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba on April 28 in response to the cybersecurity incident.

London Drugs locations began slowly coming back online May 2 when phone lines became operational again. They had been taken offline “as a necessary part of its internal investigation.”

All London Drugs retail locations were open for business Wednesday.