‘Cyberattack’ on Cheddar’s restaurants means your credit card could be compromised, company says

A “cyberattack” on Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen restaurants in 23 states means that customer credit cards may have been compromised, the chain’s parent company announced.

The financial information of anyone who ate at a Cheddar’s restaurant between Nov. 3, 2017 and Jan. 2, 2018 could be in danger after a hack that included restaurants in North Carolina and South Carolina.

Cheddar’s website shows seven restaurants in North Carolina and one in South Carolina, though there is a second at the South Carolina-Georgia border.

Darden Restaraunts, which is the parent company for Cheddar’s, Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse and several other casual and fine dining restaurants across the country, announced on Aug. 22 that its “point-of-sale” system was hacked.

“Federal authorities” alerted the company to the breach, Darden wrote in a news release.

The company estimates that 567,000 credit card numbers were “exposed” but that number could grow as Darden continues “to assess the scope of the incident.”

Darden hired a “third-party cybersecurity firm to investigate” and said the system hacked is no longer in use, and was “permanently disabled and replaced by April 10, 2018.”

“Guests who dined at any Cheddar’s restaurant located in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin between Nov. 3, 2017 and Jan. 2, 2018, should call 888-258-7280 for more information about the identity protection services available to them. Representatives are available to answer questions Monday-Saturday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern (excluding U.S. holidays).”

For more information: https://ide.myidcare.com/cheddars.

This story was originally published August 23, 2018 at 3:47 PM.