Chili's Restaurants Data Breach May Affect Austin-Area Customers

AUSTIN, TX — Chili's restaurant officials on Saturday warned customers recently visiting their eateries that their personal information may have been breached by hackers.

The breach is believe to have occurred sometime in March or April by unknown hackers. Payment card data of an still-unknown number of customers potentially was obtained illegally as a result, company officials said. According to an advisory found on the Chili's website, law enforcement has been notified about the breach, and a forensics team has been secured to determine the extent of the data breach.

"While the investigation is still ongoing, we believe that malware was used to gather payment card information, including credit or debit card numbers and cardholder names, from our payment-related systems for in-restaurant purchases at certain Chili's restaurants," company officials said in a statement.

Company officials added they plan on offering credit monitoring and fraud resolution services to affected customers as soon as they assess the situation. “We deeply value our relationships with our guests and sincerely apologize to those who may have been affected,” the Chili's restaurant officials wrote on their website.

More details can be found at: http://brinker.mediaroom.com/ChilisDataIncident.

The Dallas-based casual dining chain operates several Chili's restaurants in the Austin area, including those in Cedar Park, Pflugerville and Round Rock. Other nearby locations can be found in Bastrop, Bee Cave, Buda, Georgetown, Hutto, Killeen, San Marcos and Temple.

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