Marylanders likely hit by Chick-fil-A data breach, company says

Some Maryland Chick-fil-A lovers may have been caught in a cyberattack on the company last month, the restaurant chain announced this week.

The company said Maryland was one of nine states where Chick-fil-A One members’ personal information, including home addresses and credit and debit card details, could have been stolen in a data breach that hit the company June 17-19.

The Georgia-based restaurant chain said in a letter to customers that hackers attacked its website and mobile app using Chick-fil-A One members’ account credentials they obtained from a third-party source. Chick-fil-A One is the chain’s way of rewarding customers for purchases with points that can lead to free menu items.

The company believes hackers got hold of users’ names, email addresses, mobile pay numbers, QR codes, the last four digits of their credit or debit card numbers and Chick-fil-A credit. And, if users stored it there, those responsible for the attack may have gotten users’ birth month and day, phone number and home address, too, the company said.

In addition to Marylanders, people in Iowa, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and the District of Columbia were affected, according to the letter to customers. The Maryland Attorney General’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Abby Carroll, a spokesperson for Chick-fil-A, said a limited number of Chick-fil-A One users were affected but stopped short of sharing exact figures.

In response to the cyberattack, Chick-fil-A forced logouts of affected accounts, reset the passwords and removed any stored payment methods. It also restored impacted customers’ Chick-fil-A One account balances and added rewards as a way to thank them for their loyalty, the company said in the letter.

“We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience or concern this situation may have caused and remain committed to maintaining the trust our guests place in us every day,” Carroll said in an email.

Chick-fil-A was founded in Atlanta by the Truett family in 1967. The family still runs the chain, which has expanded to over 3,000 restaurants in Canada, Puerto Rico and the United States, more than 90 of which are in Maryland.