Yum! Brands is one of the largest restaurant companies in the world. It is the parent company of some of the most popular fast food chains, including KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. The Yum! Brands appears to have been hit by ransomware – in the UK, they were forced to close 300 restaurants.
Yum! Brands operates 53,000 restaurants in 155 countries and territories.
Immediately after the incident was discovered, Yum! Brands initiated its response protocols, including implementing mitigation measuressuch as disabling certain systems and improving monitoring technology. This is detailed in a press release issued by the company.
To ensure the safety of its customers, the company launched an extensive investigation, hired leading cybersecurity and forensics experts, and notified federal law enforcement.
See also: Bitzlato founder arrested for money laundering
Restaurants in the UK affected by the cyberattack have returned to normal operations and are not likely to face further difficulties.
Cybercriminals often steal sensitive data from network intrusions with the aim of blackmailing their victims through ransomware.
Yum! Brands has confirmed that data was stolen in the attack, but it sees no evidence that customer information was exposed.
See also: Predator inside story: SMS the key to the wiretapping investigation
"Although data was taken from the company's network and the investigation is ongoing, at this stage, there is no evidence to suggest that customer databases have been stolen," Yum! Brands said in a statement.
In an 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Yum! Brands confidently stated that the ransomware attack would not have a material adverse financial impact.
See also: T-Mobile hack: 37 million users' data breached
The company was open and honest in its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, noting that while the outage may have been temporary, it does not expect any further issues to arise. Furthermore, this incident is expected to be insignificant in terms of business operations or financial results.
The History of Yum! Brands
Yum! Brands was founded in 1997 when PepsiCo spun off its restaurant divisions into a separate entity. The newly formed company was originally known as Tricon Global Restaurants, but changed its name to Yum! Brands in 2002. The name change was part of an effort to create a unified image for the three chains KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, under a single umbrella brand.
Information source: bleepingcomputer.com
