Restaurants are downplaying their cybersecurity risk, report says
Restaurants are downplaying their cybersecurity risk, report says
Publish Date: 2026-07-09 16:29:00
Source Domain: www.restaurantbusinessonline.com
Three-fourths of the attacks exposed sensitive data. | Photo: Shutterstock
Restaurants’ cybersecurity defenses may not be as bulletproof as they think.
That’s according to a new report from cybersecurity company VikingCloud, which argues that many operators are underestimating the risk of a cyberattack.
A survey of 50 IT leaders from limited-service chains found that 78% had experienced a cyberattack in the past 12 months, even though 94% said they were confident in their ability to prevent one.
More than three-fourths of the attacks exposed sensitive data like payment card info, customers’ personal info, or payroll records. More than a third of leaders said they initially mistook a cyberattack for a routine tech glitch.
“Leaders are minimizing the threat of their complex ecosystem,” said Kevin Pierce, president and COO of VikingCloud, in a statement.
Multi-unit restaurants are good targets for hackers. They serve a lot of customers and employees and have also been adding a lot more technology in recent years. According to the report, most chains work with six or more third-party vendors per location, and some have up to 99 connected Internet of Things devices in each store. These are all potential paths for hackers to access sensitive data.
AI has added another inlet for cyberthreats. Four in 10 restaurants are using AI to answer the phone or take drive-thru orders, the report found, but about a third feel unprepared to respond to AI hallucinations or fraud such as prompt-injection payment bypass, which is when a hacker tricks an AI bot into skipping payment.
“Adoption is outpacing readiness,” the report said of voice AI.
AI is also helping cybercriminals come up with better scams. Thirty percent of restaurants said they’d experienced fraudsters using AI-generated videos or voice messages to impersonate executives. And 36% said they feel not at all or only somewhat prepared for so-called deepfake attacks like these.
Restaurants are…
