Wendy’s Reaches Settlement from 2015 + 2016 Data Breach - Cybersecurity | Digital Forensics

U.S. fast food restaurant chain Wendy’s announced recently that it has reached a settlement with the thousands of financial institutions impacted by the data breach suffered by the company in 2015 and 2016. The case clearly demonstrates how cybersecurity and information protection go far beyond compliance with regulations and standards.

Wendy's, like any other organization that processes payment cards, came under the purview of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and would have been required to undertake several measures for data protection. And yet, it suffered a data breach of this magnitude. Clearly, an information asset-centric cybersecurity strategy is the way forward for organizations rather than solely a compliance-centric one.