Cyber Incident Victim: Buffalo Wild Wings
Date:
Jun 2018
Location:
United States of America
Summary
A hacker compromised Buffalo Wild Wings' verified Twitter account, posting offensive and racist content including a fabricated "secret recipe" for its wings, derogatory remarks about individuals, and racial slurs targeting media personality Tariq Nasheed. The unauthorized tweets, which also falsely accused another restaurant of misconduct, were deleted after being live for a short period, prompting the company to confirm the breach, apologize to followers, and state it would pursue action against those responsible. The incident led to harassment against Nasheed and required coordination with Twitter representatives to address the account takeover.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 1 motive | 1 technique |
| Threat Actors | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 0 actors | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
On June 1, 2018, around 7:30 PM ET, an unidentified hacker compromised the verified Twitter account of Buffalo Wild Wings, which had over 700,000 followers. The attacker posted six unauthorized tweets during a brief takeover period before access was revoked or abandoned. Initial tweets contained crude humor, including a fabricated "secret recipe" for the restaurant's wings referencing "Tommy’s cum" and mocking an individual named "Glove" with derogatory physical descriptions. The hacker also targeted Wendy’s with an unsubstantiated accusation about the restaurant "touching kids," though Wendy’s official account did not respond. The final three tweets escalated to overt racism, including a reference to missing child Madeleine McCann with an incorrect timeline (claiming nine years missing instead of the actual eleven), followed by two tweets using racial slurs against media personality Tariq Nasheed and deploying the n-word. Screenshots preserved the tweets before their deletion by Buffalo Wild Wings or Twitter.
Buffalo Wild Wings confirmed the breach to Gizmodo, stating their account was hacked and apologizing for the "awful posts" that contradicted their values. The company announced coordination with Twitter representatives to pursue action against the perpetrators. Nasheed publicly addressed the incident, noting ongoing harassment from white supremacists due to the racist tweets and seeking an apology from the company. The hack caused reputational damage through widespread circulation of offensive content, though no technical details about the compromise method (e.g., credential theft or platform vulnerability) were disclosed. No operational disruptions to physical restaurants or other systems were reported, with impacts confined to social media reputation and follower engagement during the brief hijacking period.