Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Jul 13, 2026

McDonald's becomes latest cyberattack victim: What's going on?

McDonald's becomes latest cyberattack victim: What's going on?

Fast-food chain was able to 'quickly identify and contain' threats on its network

McDonald's on Friday disclosed limited details of a data breach that may have exposed some customer data.

"While we were able to close off access quickly after identification, our investigation has determined that a small number of files were accessed, some of which contained personal data," a McDonald's spokesperson said, adding that based on the company's investigation so far, only Korean and Taiwanese customers were impacted.

The Wall Street Journal initially reported that U.S. markets were also impacted and that the breach exposed some U.S. business and employee contact information.

Those markets "will be taking steps to notify regulators and customers listed in these files," which did not include customer payment information, the McDonald's spokesperson said.

"McDonald's understands the importance of effective security measures to protect information, which is why we've made substantial investments to implement multiple security tools as part of our in-depth cybersecurity defense," the spokesperson said.

McDonald's disclosed limited details of a data breach on Friday


The fast-food chain said it was able to "quickly identify and contain" threats on its network. It also conducted a "thorough investigation" and worked with "experienced third parties" to do so.

McDonald's did not share any additional details about the breach.


Kevin Breen, director of cyber threat research at cybersecurity company Immersive Labs, told FOX Business that McDonald's likely has a strong internal cybersecurity team and worked with effective third parties to limit the extent of the breach and disclose information to the public early.

Breen added that while McDonald's has not mentioned any kind of financial motivation or ransom demand behind the threat actors that attacked its networks, hackers across the board appear to be targetting large companies that rely on and serve a large number of customers so that they have a greater impact.

The McDonald's incident comes after hacker groups have targetted a number of major U.S. and global companies and organizations in recent months, including the Colonial Pipeline, JBS, Electronic Arts and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

"Unfortunately…it's just another day. It's just another data breach," Breen said when asked for his initial reaction to the McDonald's attack.

"It has become almost trendy for attackers to go after these bigger names," he explained. "What we are seeing is a move toward high impact for the attackers. From the attackers' perspective, if they are financially motivated in their attacks, they need the impact to force the organization into paying, and if you can affect the people, the [company] is more likely to pay, and we saw that with Colonial."

He added that with all of the recent, large-scale cyberattacks, "it's hard to know whether the attackers are increasing their frequency or whether we as a community and the media are reporting more [frequently] on it."

The Biden administration in May said it planned to launch a task force aimed at cracking down on hackers responsible for ransomware attacks after the Colonial attack.

Breen said this effort by the president also brings new light to the issue and encourages more companies and organizations to disclose details of cyberattacks to the public.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
World Cup Visitors Turn American Big-Box Stores Into Souvenir Stops
Netflix Weighs Always-On Channels, Bundles and Short-Form Video
Passenger Is Pulled Partly Outside Ryanair Jet After Window Fails Mid-Flight
The AI Invoice Shock: Layoffs Didn't Save Managers Money — They Cost Them More
Concern: Sexually Transmitted Bacterium Among Men Develops Antibiotic Resistance
Following Massive Investor Demand: SK Hynix Raises 26.5 Billion Dollars on Nasdaq
Passenger Partially Pulled Out of Ryanair Jet After Cabin Window Fails Mid-Flight
After Four Years, and Under a Heavy Veil of Secrecy: King Charles Meets His Grandchildren, Harry and Meghan's Children
Severe Heatwave Drives Dangerous Ground-Level Ozone Pollution Across Two Thirds of European Union
Westminster in Freefall as Farage's By-Election Gamble Triggers Broader Systemic Crises
Institutional Fractures and Political Volatility Reshape Britain's Domestic Landscape
Deadly Fire, Health Emergencies and Political Upheaval Shape a Volatile Global News Cycle
Flight Instructor Jumped to His Death — Student Landed the Plane: "You Know What You Need to Do"
The Physical and Electronic Barriers Disrupting Domestic Wireless Networks
France and Morocco Open World Cup Quarter-Finals as Collina Defends Refereeing
Prince Harry Suffers Major Court Defeat in Legal Battle Against Daily Mail Publisher
Bonnie Tyler, Welsh Singer Behind Total Eclipse of the Heart, Dies at 75
Tech Pulse: The Future of AI and Screen Culture
Global News Briefing: Escalating Geopolitical Tensions and Corporate Shakeups
Global News Brief: Escalating Conflicts, Public Health Crises, and World Cup Drama
Federal Financial Framework Shifts as Treasury Launches Universal Savings Program for Minors
French Court Allows Le Pen to Run for Presidency, but with an Electronic Tag: "I Will Appeal, and I Will Run"
$1.4 Trillion: The Lawsuit That Could Crush Meta
Europe's Growing Struggle with Extreme Heat and Air Conditioning
UK Daily Briefing: Legal Developments and Social Issues
Political Turmoil and Rising Costs
Anthropic Reengineers Agentic Architecture to Shift Autonomous Workplace Automation to the Cloud
Logic Flaw in Windows 11 Permission Architecture Silently Consumes Hundreds of Gigabytes of Local Storage
Apple Advances Late-Stage Operating Systems with Fourth Beta Deployments
Global Crisis Alert: Escalating Middle East Tensions and UK Political Upheaval
Deep Purple Has Released Its Best Album in Decades
Microsoft Lays Off 4,800 Employees and Xbox Suffers the Hardest Blow
Morocco and France Advance as 2026 FIFA World Cup Enters Quarterfinals.
Historic 2026 Tour de France Opens in Barcelona With Revamped Team Time Trial.
Global Mergers and Acquisitions Approach $4 Trillion Defying Geopolitical Tumult.
Negotiators Advance 20-Point Framework for Gaza Ceasefire and Demilitarization.
OECD Warns Middle East Conflict Will Depress Global Economic Growth.
Ukrainian Drones Strike Major Oil Terminal in St. Petersburg.
World Meteorological Organization Issues Urgent Alert Over Rapidly Intensifying El Niño.
United States Commemorates 250th Anniversary With Diplomatic Summits and Global Flotilla.
Iran Begins Days-Long Funeral for Supreme Leader Khamenei Amid Strait of Hormuz Standoff.
Technology giant reports surging carbon emissions driven by artificial intelligence infrastructure demands.
Artificial intelligence adoption accelerates workforce reductions across the technology and financial sectors.
Global technology and financial conglomerates collaborate to launch a new stablecoin standard.
United States regulators lift export restrictions on a major frontier artificial intelligence model.
Luxury bags take over the World Cup: style, status symbol, or just showing off?
×