Panera Bread was breached in January 2026 by ShinyHunters, a hacking group that used voice phishing (vishing) to manipulate IT help desk staff into providing access credentials. The attackers exploited a stolen Microsoft Entra single sign-on (SSO) token to enter Panera's systems and exfiltrate over 14 million records totaling 760 MB of compressed data. When Panera did not meet the group's ransom demand, the attackers published the stolen data publicly. After deduplication, the exposed dataset contained 5.1 million unique customer accounts. The exposed data included customer names, email addresses, phone numbers, and physical home addresses. This combination is enough to enable convincing phishing emails, phone scams, and customer-service impersonation attacks. Because Panera operates a large digital ordering and loyalty platform, attackers can also use this data to attempt account takeover and loyalty point fraud. Panera confirmed that "the data involved is contact information" and stated that authorities were notified. The company also notified affected customers directly. No class-action litigation or regulatory action has been widely documented as of early 2026. Affected individuals should treat unexpected emails or calls claiming to be from Panera with caution, monitor their accounts for unauthorized activity, and be alert to phishing attempts that use their real name and address to appear credible.

Restaurant chains collect customer identity, contact details, payment-adjacent information, loyalty-program data, delivery orders, and purchase history across digital ordering and rewards systems.

Panera had a turbulent 2024. A major IT outage in March 2024 — later attributed to ransomware — disrupted operations for weeks across company systems including payroll, scheduling, and point-of-sale functions. The company faced criticism for slow disclosure and the scale of operational disruption. Panera filed for a potential IPO but delayed the process amid market conditions. The January 2026 breach was a second significant data security event within two years.