The renowned American multinational fast-food chain, Subway, finds itself in an alleged cyber catastrophe. The LockBit ransomware gang has asserted responsibility for the Subway data breach, targeting the internal database, and leading to the compromise of sensitive information, including employee salaries, franchise royalty payments, master franchise commission payments, restaurant turnovers, and more.
The Subway data breach announcement from the threat actor was made public through a post on its Tor data leak site, setting a deadline for action: “Deadline: 02 Feb 2024 21:44:16 UTC.”
The message implies a significant security lapse on Subway’s part, accusing the sandwich giant of downplaying the severity of the situation.
Alleged Subway Data Breach Opens on Dark Web
The threat actor claims to have exfiltrated data totaling hundreds of gigabytes, adding an ultimatum—either Subway takes steps to protect the compromised data promptly, or the stolen information may be put up for sale to competitors.
“The biggest sandwich chain is pretending that nothing happened. We exfiltrated their SUBS internal system, which includes hundreds of gigabytes of data and all financial aspects of the franchise. We are giving some time for them to come and protect this data; if not, we are open to selling it to competitors,” reads the message published on the Tor leak site.
As the cybersecurity clock ticks, Subway is yet to release an official statement addressing the alleged breach. The Cyber Express reached out to the fast-food giant for verification, but as of now, no response has been received. The uncertainty surrounding the Subway cyberattack remains, with the company’s website appearing operational and showing no immediate signs of the reported breach.
Cyberattack on Fast Food Chains: Similar Instances in the Past
This Subway cyberattack incident bears similarities to a recent attack on Yum! Brands, the parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill, where nearly 300 restaurants in the UK were impacted by a ransomware attack. In that case, Yum! Brands swiftly responded by shutting down affected restaurants for a day, reassuring customers that personal information had not been compromised.
While the extent of the Subway breach and the demanded ransom remain undisclosed, The Cyber Express is closely monitoring the situation. We’ll update this post once we have more information on the Subway cyberattack or any official confirmation from the organization.
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