Noodles & Company investigates data breach

noodles company exterior

Noodles & Company may be the latest major restaurant chain to suffer a data breach, as the fast casual said Tuesday that some customers’ payment information could have been compromised earlier this year.

Malware may have snatched data from payment cards used at an undisclosed number of Noodles & Company outposts between Jan. 31 and June 2.

The chain said it began looking into unusual activity reported by its credit card processor last month, and has been working with a third party to determine how the breach occurred as well as the scope of its impact. It is also undergoing additional data security measures, which includes removing the related malware.

The payment cards used at the affected restaurants are “no longer at risk” from that particular malware, the chain said. A dedicated help line has been set up for customers who have questions about the breach.

“Noodles & Company takes the security of our guests’ information extremely seriously, and we apologize for the inconvenience this incident has caused our guests,” CEO Kevin Reddy said via statement. “We continue to work with third-party forensic investigators and law enforcement officials to ensure the security of our systems on behalf of our guests.”

While most data hackings in the restaurant industry take place at full-service brands, quicker-service spots have recently suffered high-profile data security issues. Earlier this month, Wendy’s noted that a data breach it suffered starting last fall was larger than originally thought, impacting significantly more than 300 restaurants.

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