Technology

Sonic hit with security breach believed to affect 5M patrons

Credit card numbers from as many as 5 million Sonic Drive-In customers may have been swiped in what security experts are calling one of the largest-ever data hackings.

Sonic acknowledged the breach after KrebsOnSecurity.com, a data-security website, had undercover affiliates buy working card numbers on a “dark web” site called Joker’s Stash. The numbers the proxies agreed to buy had all been recently used at Sonics.

The prices ranged from $25 to $50, depending on such variables as type of card and the cap on expenditures.

Sonic said it was still investigating the extent of the breach, working with third-party authorities. It noted that it was limited by the officials as to what it could say.

The 3,527-unit chain had yet to post anything about a breach on its website.

Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.

Multimedia

Exclusive Content

Financing

How Popeyes changed the chicken business

How did a once-struggling, regional bone-in chicken chain overtake KFC, the formerly dominant player in the U.S. market? With a fixation on sandwiches and many more new restaurants.

Financing

Get ready for a summertime value war

The Bottom Line: With more customers opting to eat at home, rather than at restaurants, more fast-food chains will start pushing value this summer.

Food

Inside Chili's quest to craft a value-priced burger that could take on McDonald's

Behind the Menu: How the casual-dining chain smashes expectations with a winning combination of familiarity and price with its new Big Smasher burger.

Trending

More from our partners