Hollys Coffee [Newsis]
Hollys Coffee [Newsis]

Coffee chain Hollys Coffee has confirmed that its membership system was hacked and customer personal data leaked, according to the coffee industry Monday.

Hollys said it detected unauthorized external access to its membership system on Friday and confirmed that customer personal information had been compromised. The company posted a notice on its website at around 9:36 p.m. that day.

Hollys urged customers to "immediately change your membership account password" and to "also change passwords for any other services where you use the same ID and password."

The company also warned customers not to respond to or click links in calls, text messages or emails from unverified sources, adding that "Hollys does not send links by text message or ask for passwords, financial information or payment details."

"We sincerely apologize for the concern this incident has caused our customers," the company said, adding that it would "do its utmost to protect customer information and minimize any damage."

The breach affects customers who joined the Hollys membership program before Feb. 11, 2020.

However, the company's notice did not specify how many customers were affected or whether the leaked data had been misused externally.

The compromised data includes user IDs, passwords, names, dates of birth, phone numbers, addresses, email addresses, duplicate registration verification information (DI) and other service-related data.

The breach is likely to heighten consumer anxiety amid a string of recent corporate data leaks, as the incident shows that personal information can be exposed even through everyday establishments such as coffee shops.

Hollys' mobile app and website were also inaccessible for a period on Sunday.

The company believes the hack occurred between Sept. 3 and Oct. 7.

Hollys said it has blocked the unauthorized access route, strengthened authentication procedures and stepped up monitoring of abnormal login attempts. The company added that it has reported the incident to the relevant authorities and is cooperating with their investigation.


husn7@heraldcorp.com