London Drugs reopens some stores 6 days after cybersecurity incident

London Drugs started reopening some of its stores on Vancouver Island on Saturday, nearly one week after a cybersecurity incident closed down all locations across Western Canada.

The cyberattack occurred on April 28, shuttering nearly 80 London Drugs locations in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

The company’s phone lines came back online on May 1, and on May 2 the chain said it was “rebuilding” its digital infrastructure.

Some stores reopen

On Saturday, May 4, London Drugs said it was “gradually” reopening its stores in Western Canada.

However, the company would not specify which locations had reopened, saying that it wanted to slowly restart its core services.

A resident tells CHEK News that the London Drugs location in the Nanaimo North Town Centre reopened at 11 a.m. Saturday.

“We are pleased to announce that we are gradually re-opening stores in a secure, safe and orderly manner to take care of our customer’s needs,” said Clint Mahlman, London Drugs president and COO in a statement Saturday.

“We are grateful for the patience and support of our customers and suppliers as we work to bring all services and systems at our stores back to full operation following this cybersecurity incident,” he said.

No customer data breach

London Drugs reiterated Saturday that it does not believe any customer data was leaked during the cybersecurity incident.

Since the closure on Sunday, the company has been rebuilding its store systems and online systems, with the help of third-party experts.

Previously, London Drugs said it was reviewing billions of lines of code to make sure there were no more cybersecurity risks.

“This is a time-consuming process and, rather than delay until all services and systems are fully available, we have opened our core services in some stores to meet the healthcare and everyday needs of our customers as soon as possible.”

The company said it will only restart systems once it is confident it is safe to do so.

In the meantime, pharmacists are on-site at all London Drugs locations to help with emergency prescriptions, according to the company.

Canada Post locations within stores also remain open, as does the London Drugs Insurance Services Call Centre.

With files from The Canadian Press

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