Hackers Scam Payment Info from Whole Foods, Sonic Drive-Ins

If you were paying attention to the Deloitte breach, here's what else happened in Threatwatch, Nextgov's index of cyber incidents. 

Whole Foods Looks into Payment Breach at Restaurants, Taprooms

The grocery chain Whole Foods acknowledged Thursday it’s investigating how payment cards used at some of its restaurants and taprooms may have been breached.

The company’s brief statement said the incident didn’t affect stores’ primary checkout system, but it is looking into the secondary point-of-sale systems used at locations that have table-service restaurants and taprooms. It also said the incident doesn’t affect Amazon.com systems, which it was recently purchased by.

The company didn’t disclose the number of people potentially affected but encouraged customers to monitor their card statements for unauthorized charges.

Whole Foods is working with cybersecurity forensics firms and law enforcement.

Criminals Dust Off an Old Bug for a Backdoor in Androids

More than 1,200 apps for Android phones are using a known vulnerability to skip security protocols in the Android mobile operating system.

The bug allows attackers to make fraudulent charges to phone owners and plant a backdoor for future attacks.

According to a report released by security firm TrendMicro, the malicious apps are taking advantage of a year-old vulnerability called Dirty COW, which allows attackers privileged access to devices. Dubbed ZNIU malware, the malicious apps are often disguised as porn or gaming apps and have infected 5,000 users in 40 countries, TrendMicro said. The malicious apps are usually available in third-party stores.

Google released a patch for Dirty COW in December and said the Play Protect program should prevent the malware from appearing in its official Google Play app store, ZDnet reported.

Sonic Drive-in Payment Systems Breached

The fast-food chain Sonic Drive-In acknowledged a breach of its payment systems to Krebs On Security, but the company is still looking into the scope.

The chain operates more than 3,500 locations in 44 states, most of which are franchised, according to the company’s site. The company said it’s working with third-party investigators and law enforcement after a credit card processor flagged “unusual activity regarding credits cards used at Sonic.”

On Tuesday, Krebs on Security reported payment information from accounts previously used at Sonic locations appeared in a batch of more than 5 million credit and debit cards for sale on a website called Joker’s Stash. Customers can sort through the payment information to find cards used at nearby locations and can purchase them for $25 to $50.

Krebs pointed out that the batch may include account information stolen from other companies.

After disclosing the breach, Bloomberg reported Sonic’s stock dropped 4.4 percent to $23.42, the biggest drop in two months.

Sonic hasn’t shared details about its breach yet, but point-of-sale intrusions are a popular way for hackers to steal payment information from the hotel, retail and food services industries. Verizon’s 2016 Data Breach Investigations Report found 534 incidents of point-of-sale intrusions, 525 of which lead to data disclosure.