Yum! Brands, Inc., which runs the restaurants KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill, submitted a notice of security breach to warn of a cybersecurity incident affecting individuals’ personal information that happened in mid-January 2023.
Although some data had been taken from the company’s network, the company had previously claimed no proof of identity theft or fraud involving individual users’ data.
Insights of the Security Breach
Around January 13, 2023, Yum! Brands encountered a cybersecurity problem involving unauthorized access to some of their systems.
As soon as they learned about the issue, the company locked down the impacted systems, alerted federal law enforcement officials, and collaborated with top digital forensics and restoration teams to investigate and remediate the incident.
The company says it has implemented 24/7 detection and monitoring technologies. In addition, they involved experts in determining whether any individual’s personal information might have been in the files impacted by the incident.
The attackers took some people’s identities, driver’s license numbers, and other I.D. card numbers; Yum! Brands said in a statement.
“We are writing to provide you with information about a cybersecurity incident involving your personal information that occurred in mid-January 2023,” Yum! Brands said in a statement.
“Our review determined that the exposed files contained some of your personal information, including [Name or other personal identifier in combination with: Driver’s License Number or Non-Driver Identification Card Number].”
The company further stated that there was no proof that the stolen data had been used for fraud or identity theft as part of the current inquiry.
Consequences of the Breach
Yum! Brands disclosed that it had to close around 300 restaurants in the U.K. for a day as a result of the ransomware assault in its 2022 annual report that was submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
“On January 18, 2023, we announced a ransomware attack that impacted certain I.T. Systems which resulted in the closure of fewer than 300 restaurants in one market for one day, temporarily disrupted certain of our affected systems and resulted in data being taken from our network,” the company stated in its 2022 annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
“We have incurred, and may continue to incur, certain expenses related to this attack, including expenses to respond to, remediate and investigate this matter.”
Yum! With the assistance of almost 36,000 workers worldwide, Brands and its subsidiaries operate or franchise more than 55,000 restaurants in 155 countries and territories.
Notably, Yum! Brands reassured investors that the ransomware attack would not have a significant negative impact on their finances.
The business notifies affected employees individually and offers extra monitoring and security services. Yum! Brands have not yet revealed how many employees’ data was compromised by the ransomware attack.
Hence, the company advises you to review your account statements, keep an eye on any available credit reports for unauthorized or suspicious activity, and exercise caution when responding to emails, phone calls, or other contacts that request personal or sensitive information (e.g., phishing) to prevent from identity theft and fraud.
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