The popular Wendy’s was hacked, and client card information has been obtained.
Over one thousand of Wendy’s outlets were hacked. Presently, no hacker or group of hackers has openly taken credit for the operation. Authorities have also not gained any lead or information in regards to the perpetrator or perpetrators.
Following what Wendy’s CEO Todd Penegor referred to as highly sophisticated criminal cyber-attacks, the US hamburger chain had to notify its clients that their bank accounts were potentially compromised.
Following the hack which took place on Thursday, June 7th, client debit and credit card information was compromised. Client names, card numbers, card codes, and expiration dates were all obtained during the hack.
Wendy’s did not initially notify its clients, most likely because it did not notice anything wrong. Notifications and contact of the authorities were quickly set into place, however, after several customers brought avid complaints that fraudulent purchases had been made through their accounts.
This Was Not The First Time Wendy’s Was Hacked in 2016
With an ongoing investigation at its doorstep, Wendy’s reported that several hacking attempts had been made starting January 2016. Hundreds of outlets had even found multiple types of malware. It has not been disclosed if early hacking attempts had been successful or if any measures were taken against the malware such as removing it or increasing security.
Wendy’s has thoroughly apologized for the inconvenience and promised to use the experience gained from all that has happened to try and strengthen their data security measures.
Until such security measures are strengthened, however, Wendy’s has put up a map showing which of its restaurants were hacked. Customers are strongly advised to consult their banks in regards to their accounts and make sure no fraudulent purchases have been made.
As an apology, Wendy’s has offered credit monitoring for one year for no charge to any customer who made purchases with a card at any of the listed restaurants. They have also offered to pay any additional identity restoration fees.
In the past years, Wendy’s is not the only fast food enterprise to get hacked. Most hackers will attempt to target any weakness they find in a system and to exploit every available channel. Companies which do not invest in localized and committed IT security are bound to have their security measures quickly become outdated.
Image Courtesy of Flickr.
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