I found a Lowe’s hardware store near where my RV is parked this weekend. I dropped in for a whopping $4 shopping spree. The cashier lines looked long so I decided to go for the self-checkout.

I don’t like self-checkout because the people in front of me invariably need a remedial course in how to use a calculator — but this time I found an open machine. So I went for it. Only when I tried to insert a credit card did I realize the machine wouldn’t let me.

I don’t know where this woman’s com­pu­ter secu­rity authority comes from but, hey, people nor­mally take the security guard’s state­ments at face value and in this case I saw no reason to deviate.

The security guard at the self-checkout aisle (I mean, you gotta call her a security guard because she’s obviously not a cashier) looked up from another customer’s problem and shouted “are you trying to pay with credit?” She then shouted the instructions I needed to get the computer to spit out a receipt. “Bring it to me,” she shouted.

I walked up to the security guard with my receipt, at which time she explained the problem. “Every Lowe’s got hit on Friday by a [computer] virus. All of the self checkouts are down.” (That’s a verbatim quote.)

Mind you, my $4 shopping spree took place on Sunday afternoon. That virus has rampaged through their POS systems for two full days.

She stated with authority that Lowe’s has no timeline for a fix — so I guess we’ll all have to use real cashiers until the hardware chain can disinfect its POS systems.

The security guard dismissed the computer virus as nothing more than a bothersome issue. Yet if history is any guide, we can bet Lowe’s (computer) security officials will lump every cashier’s timecard into the “cost” of their repair job. And they’ll almost certainly describe it henceforth as a “catastrophic failure” of the firm’s POS systems. This event may someday turn into a Biblical story of a great flood of computer viruses that nearly wiped Lowe’s off the face of the business map.

So Lowe’s computer security suffered a catastrophic failure. If senior management doesn’t blame the computer security team … then who will they blame for this catastrophic failure? If I held stock in Lowe’s, I’d want to know the answers to questions like this.

• By Postle, 9 March 2009 @ 1:25 pm

  Intriguing. Not doubting YOU, Rob, or your analysis of the issue — if it’s true, it’s disturbing on a number of levels. (I doubt I need to describe them.)
  However, it may be worth noting that I made a purchase via a Lowe’s self-checkout on Saturday afternoon (3/7) about 1PM, using a credit card. (Just tossed the receipt this morning.) I had no problems.
  So, either the “guard” is lying about the scope of this thing, or well, I guess that’s pretty much the only possible conclusion, other than to wonder whether *she* invented the story, or how high up the official ladder the story goes.
  I do have to admit that I’ve wondered – given that most self-checkout kiosks run OEM Windows XP, how long it would be before s/o decided to intentionally infect (or accidentally infected) those boxes. Will be an interesting story (or non-story) to follow.
• By Corrections & Clarifications, 6 May 2009 @ 8:09 pm

  The RV friend who went to Lowes with Rob Rosenberger recalls the “verbatim” virus quote without the word “computer.” Mr. Rosenberger believes his friend deserves the benefit of the doubt and agreed to place the word “computer” in brackets.

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