Online photo centers shut down over possible data breach

Costco, Sam’s Club, CVS, and Rite Aid have shut down their online photo centers due to a potential data breach, and are warning customers that financial information they entered on these websites could be at risk.

“There’s a possibility that the credit card information has been compromised along with the user information,” said Dr. John Carls, senior security engineer with security service Lunarline in Kettering.

A statement posted at Costcophotocenter.com, said, in part, “As a result of recent reports suggesting that there may have been a security compromise of the third party vendor who hosts Costcophotocenter.com we are temporarily suspending access to the site.”

All of the companies use the same photo printing service — PNI.

“PNI is owned by Staples. Staples was compromised last year, so maybe they (hackers) used that information from the Staples hack to gain more information about PNI,” Carls said.

Jerry McMahan of Dayton hasn’t used one of these photo services, but said his credit card company issued him a new card due to another data breach, and he’s received a letter about his health insurance information being compromised.

He said he’s getting numb to the news of constant hacks and data breaches.

“You start to become less shocked. You hear it and think, ‘Well there’s another one,’ ’’ McMahan said, adding that he does check his accounts for any suspect purchases.

That’s what everybody should be doing, Carls said.

“If you see any fraudulent charges, you need to notify your credit card company or your bank right away,” he said. “It’s a challenge, but be aware and know where you are making purchases.

“Stay vigilant on your personal information because once it’s compromised, there are many different things that can be done with it, from making fraudulent purchases to taking out a loan.”

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