Data breaches and cyber attacks are becoming increasingly common as more and more high-profile companies around the world are falling victim to targeted attacks.
On Friday, McDonalds (NYSE: MCD) stated that it had been affected by a data breach, where the personal information of customers and employees in South Korea and Taiwan had been accessed. The chain is currently contacting the affected individuals, and McDonald's clarified that payment and financial information was not accessed.
The hack also exposed some of McDonald's business information in the US, where data about US-based restaurants, such as square footage and seating capacity, was accessed. However, the company claimed that no sensitive customer or employee data was accessed in the US.
On the same day, Volkswagen also announced that it had identified a data breach at a US vendor location, where the information of more than 3.3 million US and Canadian customers and prospective buyers had been compromised.
Most customers had limited information on file, such as phone numbers and e-mail addresses, as well as previous vehicle purchase and lease history in some cases. However, 90,000 Audi customers had sensitive information on the breached files, where data such as driver license numbers, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth were accessed.
The actions of cybercriminals are becoming increasingly prevalent, as these data breaches follow a string of attacks that have occurred in recent weeks. Meat processor JBS and the Colonial Pipeline highlight some of the more significant attacks recently experienced by high-profile companies.