Payment Card Breach At Applebee’s

Malware has been found on Applebee’s point of sale sytems that infected more than 160 restaurants in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wyoming. The malware was designed to secure names, credit or debit card numbers, expiration dates, and card verification codes. Lisa Baergen, Director of Marketing at NuData Security commented below.

Lisa Baergen, Director of Marketing at NuData Security:

“Cybercriminals are being increasingly successful at finding weaknesses in Point-of-Sale (PoS) systems. In this case, 160 restaurants were hit by bad actors trying to steal credit card information. Restaurants and other hospitality industries must continuously monitor PoS devices and distribute patches regularly. On the other side, to combat online fraudulent transactions after the credit card information has been stolen, businesses offering services in the card-not-present (CNP) channel need to identify customers using multi-layered technologies that include passive biometrics. This technology monitors the user’s inherent behavior, making it impossible for hackers to replicate or steal.  Leveraging a fully integrated multi-layered security approach that includes passive biometrics is an effective way to make stolen information valueless to the hacker and help stop fraud.”