A Polecat Walkthrough: McDonald’s, Cyber Risks, and the Fast-Food Industry
- kirstyaldous
- 7 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
By: Kirsty Aldous-Wilson, Communications Specialist
The last time I found myself walking past McDonald’s, cybersecurity was nowhere on my register, and yet I find myself writing on exactly that.
Looking at the golden arches through the Polecat platform, however, I noticed a clear July peak in public discourse concerning the fast-food giant.
With the Polecat platform, companies have the ability to manage and track all external risks within their risk registers. Our work with Bob Bowman of The Wendy's Company inspired me to see how the flexibility provided by the Polecat platform could illuminate the worlds of other fast-food companies.
When a Security Slip becomes a Sensation
The spike over the 11th July reveals stories regarding the highly concerning ease with which a security researcher gained access to over 64 million people’s personal information through McDonald’s AI-powered interviewing platform.
This had a direct consequence on consumer behaviour, with McDonald's sentiment taking a steep drop amidst the news. Had such a flaw been uncovered by cyber criminals, this sentiment may have piled on extra pressure for teams who would already be dealing with the fallout from an attack - the UK’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2024 notes that 68% of consumers believe that companies have a responsibility to disclose data breaches to affected customers.
Turning Insight into Action
I was able to drill down into the issue and turn a flood of information into real insight by applying Polecat’s Cyber Risk taxonomy.
After the initial spike, social media quickly picked up the headlines, fueling a multi-wave hit on McDonald's reputation that reverberated throughout the month.
Uncovering a Global View of Impact
Polecat picked up and processed stories from across the globe.
An Industry-Wide Challenge
Curious to find out if this was an individual challenge or a widespread issue, I decided to compare McDonald's with some of its peers. The data reveals that McDonald’s isn’t alone. Other major fast-food chains have also been exposed to cyber threats.
Chipotle became a target of the criminal hacking group 'Scattered Spider', who attempted to trick Chipotle employees into giving away data through false login portals.
When the risk is systemic, enforcing high internal cyber safety measures can only protect against so much. The growing prevalence and intensity of such attacks illustrate the developing need for companies to understand their full threat landscape all the way through supply chains to customer interactions:
Who else is being targeted?
How are attackers adapting?
Which risks are emerging before they hit the headlines?
Why Responsible Business Intelligence Matters
Cybersecurity is not an IT issue, and it certainly doesn’t exist in a vacuum within the tech world. It is increasingly impacting companies across multiple industries and levels.
Polecat enables organisations to:
Identify and monitor risks across bespoke registers.
Detect patterns across industries before concerns escalate.
Understand risk in context across geographies, stakeholders, and time.
Closing Thoughts
McDonald’s may have learned a hard lesson this month: in 2025, a simple password can create complex consequences.
The organisations that thrive in this environment are the ones that can not only spot risks early but see how they connect across industries and geographies. At Polecat, we deliver these insights to enable you to act confidently and decisively. Responsible Business Intelligence gives you the foresight to protect your reputation, your stakeholders, and your growth.
*Impact is a smartly-factored volume metric. We factor in a multitude of aspects, from the credibility of the source and the relevance of coverage right down to reader attention models, to provide insight that goes beyond mere volume. We weight each of these to provide an empirical value of 0-1, pushing the most relevant content to the top.
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