Wendy’s Investigates Potential Data Breach

The quick-serve chain acknowledges the possibility of a data breach.

January 29, 2016

DUBLIN, Ohio – Wendy’s has opened an investigation into a potential credit card security breach at some locations, KrebsOnSecurity reports. The fast-food chain acknowledged receiving reports in early January about the breach, prompting the company to hire outside investigators.

“We have received this month from our payment industry contacts reports of unusual activity involving payment cards at some of our restaurant locations,” Wendy’s spokesperson Bob Bertini said. “Reports indicate that fraudulent charges may have occurred elsewhere after the cards were legitimately used at some of our restaurants. We’ve hired a cybersecurity firm and launched a comprehensive and active investigation that’s underway to try to determine the facts.”

Wendy’s wouldn’t say whether or not the incident was contained or how long it had happened before the company became aware of the breach. “We began investigating immediately, and the period of time we’re looking at the incidents is late last year,” Bertini said. “We know it’s [affecting] some restaurants but it’s not appropriate just yet to speculate on anything in terms of scope.”

In December, the House Financial Services Committee approved a data security bill that NACS opposed because it would weaken data security while imposing exorbitant liability risks on convenience stores.

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