Panera Bread, a prominent U.S. food chain, is currently navigating a significant data breach situation, notifying its employees of the breach following a ransomware attack in March. The breach, which affected sensitive personal information, has prompted the company to take swift action, including the engagement of external cybersecurity experts to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident. With 2,160 cafes across 48 states in the U.S. and Ontario, Canada, Panera Bread and its franchises are working diligently to address the breach’s impact on their operations and ensure the security of their employees’ data.
In breach notification letters submitted to the Office of California’s Attorney General, Panera Bread disclosed the discovery of a “security incident” and outlined measures taken to contain the breach and mitigate potential harm. The company confirmed that certain files accessed during the breach contained employees’ names and Social Security numbers, along with other employment-related information. While there is no evidence to suggest that the compromised information has been publicly disclosed, Panera Bread is committed to supporting affected employees by providing them with one-year memberships to CyEx’s Identity Defense Total, offering essential identity protection services such as credit monitoring and identity theft resolution.
Despite efforts to address the breach, Panera Bread continues to face challenges stemming from the incident, including a widespread outage that has disrupted internal IT systems, phone communications, point-of-sale systems, website functionality, and mobile app services. The outage has impacted employee operations, with difficulties accessing shift details and processing electronic payments, leading to disruptions in store operations and customer loyalty programs. While the ransomware operation responsible for the March breach remains unidentified, Panera Bread is actively working to restore normalcy to its operations and maintain transparency with its employees and customers amidst ongoing investigations and recovery efforts.
