McDonald's Hit by Data Breach in South Korea, Taiwan
June 11 2021 - 8:25AM
Dow Jones News
By Heather Haddon
McDonald's Corp. said hackers stole some customer and employee
data from its systems in markets including South Korea and Taiwan,
in another example of cybercriminals infiltrating high-profile
global companies.
The burger chain said Friday that it recently hired external
consultants to investigate unauthorized activity on an internal
security system, prompted by a specific incident in which the
unauthorized access was cut off in a week. The investigators
discovered that company data had been breached in markets including
South Korea and Taiwan, McDonald's said.
The company said customer and personal-employee data in the U.S.
weren't compromised in the attack.
Attackers stole customer emails, phone numbers and addresses for
delivery customers in South Korea and Taiwan, the company said. In
Taiwan, hackers also stole employee information including names and
contact information, McDonald's said. The company said the number
of files exposed was small without disclosing the number of people
affected. The breach didn't include customer payment information,
McDonald's said.
McDonald's said that its divisions in South Korea and Taiwan
notified regulators in Asia of the breach Friday, and that they
would contact customers and employees. The company said its
divisions would also notify some employees in South Africa and
Russia of possible unauthorized access to their information. The
investigation had flagged those countries as well.
McDonald's said that business at its restaurants wasn't
disrupted by the breach and that it didn't involve a ransomware
attack, in which hackers demand payment to return control of data
and operations to companies. McDonald's said it wasn't asked for
ransom, nor did it make any payment to the hackers.
Prominent ransomware attacks in recent months have disrupted
operations at institutions and companies deeply embedded in U.S.
civic and commercial life, including hospitals, transport systems,
pipelines and meat companies. Some companies including Colonial
Pipeline Co. and the U.S. operations of meat company JBS SA have
said they paid hackers to regain full control of their data and
operations.
McDonald's said that it has increased investment in
cybersecurity defenses in recent years, and that those tools helped
it respond to the recent attack. The company said it cut off
hackers' access to data soon after the breach was identified.
"McDonald's will leverage the findings from the investigation as
well as input from security resources to identify ways to further
enhance our existing security measures," the company said.
Write to Heather Haddon at heather.haddon@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 11, 2021 08:14 ET (12:14 GMT)
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