Popular burger chain from the Pacific Northwest region, Burgerville, is the latest victim of a data breach. The Vancouver-based food joint recently disclosed that any customer who had made a purchase from its 42 stores spread across the region between September 2017 and September 2018 using their credit or debit have had their financial data stolen in a hack. “On August 22, 2018, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) notified Burgerville of a cybersecurity breach impacting a number of the company’s systems,” the food chain joint stated in a release.
In mid-September, during the forensic investigation, the burger chain discovered what they had thought to be a brief intrusion was a massive breach and was still active during the time. Apparently, hackers had placed a malware on Burgerville’s network and continued to collect payment details of customers for a year. As an immediate step, the food joint sought third-party assistance in cooperation with the FBI to disable the malware.
“The organization responsible for this breach is believed to be Fin7, a sophisticated international cybercrime group. On August 1, 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a press release announcing the apprehension of three members of this group who have been connected with launching cyberattacks on more than 100 companies across 47 states. The press release mentions that there was a wave of attacks on local businesses specifically in Western Washington, which includes Burgerville,” the release added.
The company explained that it doesn’t store credit card numbers of customers. It was the malware installed by the hackers that was acting up. Fortunately, no other allied third-party company has been affected in the attack, except the ones that were disclosed by the United States Department of Justice.
“Burgerville completed its remediation plan. The operation had to be kept confidential until it was completed in order to prevent the hackers from creating additional covert pathways into the company’s network,” it said, while concluding that, “This was a sophisticated attack in which the hackers effectively concealed all digital traces of where they have been.”
