SevenRooms sevenrooms.com SevenRooms data breach: what happened and what to do
Reviewed by Anthon Wansland
Head of Product & Co-Founder
Serus is a privacy company with paid tools to find and remove your personal data. This page is free and based on official sources.
In December 2022 data from the restaurant platform SevenRooms was offered for sale. Have I Been Pwned lists 1.2 million unique email addresses with names and purchases. SevenRooms said an unauthorised party reached a third-party vendor's file transfer interface and that payment and ID data weren't affected.
View all 13,118 breaches- Breach date
- 11 Dec 2022
- Affected
- 1,205,385
- Data exposed
- Email addresses, Names, Purchases
- Verified
- Yes
- Last updated
Source: Have I Been Pwned (CC BY 4.0)
What happened
SevenRooms makes reservation and customer management software for restaurants. In December 2022, more than 400GB of data tied to the company was posted for sale on a hacking forum.
SevenRooms confirmed that a file transfer interface of a third-party vendor had been accessed without authorisation. It said the files could include API credentials, which have since expired, and some guest data. It disabled the interface and brought in outside cybersecurity experts. It also said it had no evidence that its own databases were affected.
Sources checked: haveibeenpwned.com, consumer.ftc.gov, bleepingcomputer.com
Last verified against the official page:
What was exposed
Have I Been Pwned counted 1,205,385 unique email addresses, alongside names and purchases. SevenRooms said guest data may have included names, email addresses and phone numbers, and that card details, bank details and government IDs weren't stored on the affected servers.
If you booked a table through a restaurant that uses SevenRooms, your email and booking history could be in this data. That gives criminals what they need for phishing that mentions a real restaurant or reservation. Treat unexpected messages about a booking, a deposit or a refund with suspicion.
What you can't do
You can't get leaked data pulled back. What you can do is make it less useful: be careful with messages that reference your bookings, and check that your email password isn't reused anywhere.
What to do if you were in it
- 1
Expect booking-themed phishing
Don't click links or use phone numbers in unexpected emails or texts about reservations, deposits or refunds. Contact the restaurant using details you already know. See the FTC's guide to recognising phishing.
- 2
Report phishing
Forward phishing emails to reportphishing@apwg.org, forward texts to 7726 (SPAM) and report to ReportFraud.ftc.gov, as the FTC advises.
- 3
Check your email account
The FTC says your email is often the weak link because password resets go there. Use a unique password and turn on two-factor authentication, preferably an authenticator app or security key. See the FTC's guidance.
- 4
Check which other breaches include you
Run a free Serus scan to see whether your email or phone number appears in this and other breaches.
Frequently asked
Was I affected by the SevenRooms data breach?
You can search your email address on Have I Been Pwned or run a free Serus scan. SevenRooms did not publish a list of affected restaurants.
What data was exposed in the SevenRooms breach?
Have I Been Pwned lists email addresses, names and purchases. SevenRooms said guest data may have included names, email addresses and phone numbers.
Were my card details exposed?
SevenRooms said card details, bank details and government IDs weren't stored on the affected servers.
Should I change my password?
Passwords weren't listed as exposed. The FTC still advises a unique password per account and two-factor authentication.
Sources
- Have I Been Pwned: SevenRooms
- haveibeenpwned.com/Breach/SevenRooms
- consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-recognize-avoid-phishing-scams
- consumer.ftc.gov/articles/creating-strong-passwords-and-other-ways-protect-your-accounts
- consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2022/10/have-you-been-affected-data-breach-read
- bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/restaurant-crm-platform-sevenrooms-confirms-breach-after-data-for-sale/
- techradar.com/news/restaurant-crm-platform-sevenrooms-confirms-data-breach
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