A popular chicken restaurant chain with several locations in central North Carolina said a “cyber-attack” by a “hacker” over an 11-month period took customer names and credit card info. PDQ restaurants, which primarily sell chicken, were hit by the “breach” between May 19, 2017, and April 20, 2018, according to a news release from the restaurant chain. Javvad Malik, Security Advocate at AlienVault commented below.
Javvad Malik, Security Advocate at AlienVault:
“Details are still emerging on this attack, but it appears as if the attacker was able to break in using a providers remote access. It reinforces the importance of vetting all 3rd parties for the access they require, and to have in place ongoing monitoring and threat detection controls that can raise alerts when a 3rd party is accessing corporate systems.
This is a long-standing risk that many companies face – Target was breached in 2014 through its third party HVAC system.
However, this risk will only increase as companies adopt more cloud services and providers. Cloud services often offer great convenience through which multiple providers can offer and integrate services; but it remains vitally important that companies are aware of who is accessing its systems and data, and why. Keeping a particularly close eye on critical data.”
