Ace holed: Hardware store empire felled by cyberattack Ace Hardware appears to have been the latest organization to succumb to a cyberattack, judging by its website and a message from CEO John Venhuizen. The site today warns that the retailer-owned cooperative is unable to process online orders. A memo from Venhuizen indicates the problem is serious. In a note sent to Ace …
I was looking this morning to see if something was stocked by the nearby store. I saw the message about not being able to place an order.
But I need something today so was going to the store if they had it in stock. Guess I shouldn't trust the message about it not being available in store. Probably not reliable inventory numbers.
I always use tap to pay or cash so should be safe if payment info was stolen.
Their backend has been affected for at least 16 days because I've been conversing with their IT department since October 14th with major issues with their app. I guarantee the CEO knows this too. I would highly recommend anyone with an account to change their password as soon as they are able.
“Ace Hardware International needed a better way to onboard and connect new franchisees with its industry-leading standards, practices, operations, and supply networks to set up stores for success and deliver its award-winning brand to market faster and more easily. Ace Hardware International did just that with Microsoft Azure.”
I worked for an Ace franchise (locally owned and operated) for various seasons and part-time schedules from the late '90s through early 2005 (before finally starting my "real" career and moving states for the job). The on-hands knowledge gained, both of hardware and dealing with retail customers, is invaluable, but provides some interesting anecdotes.
1. From the time said store became an Ace to around 2000, the catalog was PAPER in about a dozen volumes. Catalog updates would come with the twice-weekly shipments from the nearest warehouse, and I did my fair share of them, releasing the special flat-bindings (not your standard 3-rings) and swapping the stack of paper.
2. Our first on-the-floor PC (the checkouts used remote TTY terminals with green screens) held the catalog on CD-ROM. Updates were much easier, and there were more product images, but we kept the paper as a backup.
3. Finally we got internet (dial-up) and had a connection to the warehouse to check inventory and live pricing for special/bulk orders. This was done through a normal browser (IE if I recall) with a similar interface as the CD-ROM software, which was faster as long as we didn't need the stock/price info.
Shortly after I left, the owner finally had to upgrade the IT of the entire store. Checkouts were supposed to become Windows machines with all the catalog functions built-in and a broadband internet connection.
As a consumer, I can say Ace's website and app are not as useful as Home Depot's (leader) or Lowe's (follower but ahead of Ace). I think this company as a whole is behind the times, but I'm glad they're still around -- I just don't trust their online side, and this article multiplies that.
(Most of my Ace purchases are hardware -- think nuts & bolts -- which in my region is provided & priced by the Hilman Company, not stocked at Ace warehouses and not available through their site/app. Ace/Hilman's selection is much better than the big-box stores, especially for odd things.)
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