While you were enjoying that slab of Chili's baby back ribs, hackers may have been feasting on your payment card information.
In a notice issued Saturday by Chili’s Grill & Bar parent company Brinker International, company officials announced that a data incident at some Chili’s restaurants may have resulted in unauthorized access or acquisition of credit and debit card data.
The list of impacted restaurants has not been released, but officials said the incident happened between March and April 2018.
"We sincerely apologize to those who may have been affected and assure you we are working diligently to resolve this incident," said a statement from Brinker International.
Officials said they learned on Friday that payment card information was compromised at certain Chili’s restaurants.
The company is now working with third-party forensic experts to conduct an investigation to determine the details of what happened.
Preliminary investigation indicates that malware was used to gather payment card information including credit or debit card numbers as well as cardholder names from Chili's payment-related systems for in-restaurant purchases.
Because Chili’s does not collect personal information such as social security number, full date of birth or state identification number, that information was not compromised.
"Law enforcement has been notified of this incident and we will continue to fully cooperate. We are working to provide fraud resolution and credit monitoring services for those guests who may have been impacted," said a statement from Brinkers.
The company went on to say that they are working to determine exacyl how many customers were impacted by the breach.
Call IndyStar reporter Justin L. Mack at (317) 444-6138. Follow him on Twitter: @justinlmack.
