Wendy's Announces Customer Information Was Targeted At 1,025 Franchised Locations

The Wendy’s Co. (WEN) announced Thursday that the personal financial information of its customers were targeted at a portion of its U.S.-based franchises. The fast-food burger chain stated that it is working with federal law enforcement authorities and contacts in the payment card industry in an ongoing investigation into the malicious cyber activity.

Earlier in June, Wendy’s had reported that it noticed and disabled additional malware following the initial activity. The chain said that the payment information attacked included card holder name, debit or credit card number, verification code and card expiration date. Credit card information was shared in the attack, but customers who reported any suspicious activity in a timely manner will not be held responsible for charges.

The company believes that the malware was sent to the franchisees’ point-of-sales systems remotely due to service providers’ credentials being compromised. Wendy’s also said that there is no indication as of now that company-owned restaurants were affected by any attacks.

A company spokesman told the Wall Street Journal that 1,025 franchised locations were affected by the attack. There’s no indication of exactly how many customers were affected, but the company continues to updates regarding the attack on its website.

Wendy’s joins a list of corporations affected by security breaches in the recent past, as companies by the likes of Walmart (NYSE:WMT), Target Corp. (NYSE:TGT), and Home Depot (NYSE:HD) have all dealt with cybersecurity attacks of their own.

Bottom Line

The Wendy’s Company is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), which can be attributed to a great deal of positive EPS estimate revision activity from analysts, as well as to its B Style Scores for Growth and Value. If the company remains vulnerable to continued cyber attacks though, it could start to take a toll on its performance moving forward. Hopefully Wendy’s will be able to access these prior attacks and be prepared for any further attempted security breaches in the future to protect its customers, and its shareholders.