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Wendy's investigating possible payment card data breach

Wendy's is investigating reports of "unusual activity" on payment cards that had been used at some of its restaurants

January 28, 2016

Wendy's is investigating reports of "unusual activity" on payment cards that had been used at some of its restaurants, according to a USA Today report. The possible security breach was first reported Wednesday by Krebs on Security. Wendy's has more than 6,500 franchised and company-owned restaurants worldwide.

Wendy's did not respond to QSRWeb.com's request for comment, but Wendy's spokesman Bob Bertini told USA Today that the chain began an investigation after being alerted this month by the payments industry to possible fraudulent charges being made "elsewhere after payment cards were legitimately used at some restaurants."

The number of cards or restaurants that may have been affected by the breach is unknown, the report stated.

Jeremy Gumbley, a veteran in payments and security technology and CTO and CSO of Creditcall, said hackers want more than a burger and credit card details; they want the recognition that comes with infamy and will stop at nothing.

"Understanding what motivates cyber-thieves and their relentless drive for highly sensitive data should be a wake-up call to retailers, restaurants and merchants regarding the imperative need to embrace a multi-pronged approach to payment card security (referred to as the 'Holy Trinity' and inclusive of EMV, point to point encryption and tokenization)," he said. "While the details around the Wendy's card data breach are still being investigated and the exact nature of the breach is not known, it reinforces the notion we (as in businesses and the consumer) need to be more proactive with data security and tackle card data fraud and theft from multiple fronts."