LA CROSSE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Officials confirmed Thursday that Kwik Trip suffered a cyber attack that led to the ongoing disruption to its internal network and communication systems.
John McHugh, vice president of external relations for the Wisconsin-based convenience store chain, said in a statement that although the investigation is still in its early stages, current findings indicate that Kwik Trip “experienced a cybersecurity incident.”
McHugh went on to add, “The incident was detected within hours and mitigation efforts began immediately with the assistance of external cybersecurity experts.”
At this point, no signs point to guests’ payment information being compromised.
Systems impacted by the incident, which began Oct. 9, include Kwik Trip’s loyalty program, communication systems within the company and systems related to production facilities in La Crosse.
McHugh said that as of Oct. 19, most internal systems are functioning but several services will remain offline for the time being.
“Kwik Rewards is back online and successfully processing loyalty transactions at many of our stores today. We anticipate all locations to be successfully processing loyalty transactions within the next few days. At this time, the Kwik Rewards app and website will remain offline; however, members will receive an update as soon as these are restored. That communication will include plans to restore any missed rewards as a result of the outage.”
As he concluded his statement, McHugh said that Kwik Trip appreciates the public’s continued patience and understanding as the company works to restore full operations.
