A notice of security breach to warn the public has been filled by a Yum! Brands, Inc., the parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grills. Based on a cybersecurity incident that happened in mid-January 2023 and affected people’s personal information.
Notwithstanding the fact that some data had been taken from the company’s network, the corporation had previously asserted that there was no evidence of fraud or identity theft concerning the data of specific users.
Yum! will debut on January 13, 2023. A cybersecurity issue that involved unauthorized access to some of the systems that brands used. The company immediately locked down the affected systems after becoming aware of the problem, notified federal law enforcement, and worked with leading digital forensics and restoration teams to investigate and address the matter.
The business claims to have put 24/7 detection and monitoring technology in place. To ascertain whether any individual’s personal information would have been present in the files affected by the incident, they also consulted experts.
Yum! Brands claimed the attackers stole certain people’s names, driver’s license information, and other I.D. card details. Yum! Brands issued a letter saying, “We are writing to tell you about a cybersecurity incident affecting your details that occurred in mid-January 2023.
Your name or another personal identifier in combination with your driver’s license number or non-driver identification card number was found in the exposed data, according to our analysis. The business added that there was no evidence to support the use of the stolen data for fraud or identity theft as part of the ongoing investigation.
The Effect of the Breach Delicious! Brands reported to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in its 2022 annual report that the ransomware assault forced them to shut down over 300 restaurants in the United Kingdom for one day (SEC).
According to the company’s 2022 annual report submitted to (Securities and Exchange Commission) in the U.S., “We announced a ransomware attack on January 18, 2023, which compromised some of our IT systems, forced the closure of less than 300 restaurants in one market for a single day, momentarily disrupted some of the affected systems, and resulted in the theft of data from our network.” (SEC).
“We have already incurred and may continue to incur some costs linked to this assault, including costs to address, correct, and look into this situation.” Yum! Brands and its subsidiaries run or franchise more than 55,000 restaurants in 155 nations and territories with the help of close to 36,000 employees across the globe.
Particularly Yum! Investors were reassured by brands that the ransomware attack would not have a materially negative effect on their financial situation.
The company provides additional monitoring and security services and notifies each affected employee individually. Yum! Brands have not disclosed the number of employees whose data was exposed due to the ransomware assault.
The company, therefore, advises you to review your account statements, keep an eye out for any unlawful or questionable activity on any available credit reports, and use caution when responding to emails, phone calls, or other contacts that request personal or sensitive information (such as phishing) to avoid identity theft and fraud.
Conclusion
Yum Brands, which owns KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, confirmed a January 2023 ransomware assault compromised PII. Yum took systems offline to mitigate the cyberattack and closed 300 UK restaurants for a day on January 18. The corporation claimed that only corporate data was stolen during the incident, however, a Maine Attorney General’s Office complaint shows personal PII was also compromised.
Yum’s notification letter to potentially affected individuals claims that the ransomware assault stole names, driver’s license numbers, ID numbers, and other personal details. Yum claims it has “no indication of identity theft or fraud” involving the stolen Information, but such data is often traded or shared on underground hacker portals and used in phishing and other assaults. The company told the SEC in a January 8-K filing that the incident would not affect operations or financial performance. The business says the event will cost.
“When breaches occur, victims are often encouraged to be as transparent as possible and divulge as much information as they have to the public.
But, in reality, forensics can take months. So, in the first few days of an attack happening, very few businesses fully understand the scope of the incident or what has happened. This is why situations like what has happened to Yum! Brands happen so frequently.
When it comes to improving the speed of forensics, one of the best ways to achieve this is through breach detection.
Breach detection is a key defence that feeds into forensic analysis to measure the full extent of a breach.
The faster you detect the breach, the sooner you can stop it.
This allows organisations to provide more accurate information to victims quickly, which not only restores customer trust, but also minimises the time attackers have access to data without the victim’s knowledge.”