McDonald's faced significant disruptions in its fast-food operations on Friday, attributing the widespread technical issues to a third-party provider rather than a cyber attack. The outage, which occurred during a "configuration change," affected stores in various countries including the UK, Australia, and Japan.
According to McDonald's, the problem led to the inability to process orders, prompting closures and service interruptions across affected regions. However, the company clarified that it swiftly identified and resolved the global technology system outage.
Brian Rice, McDonald's chief information officer, emphasized that the incident was an anomaly not directly linked to cybersecurity threats but rather stemmed from a third-party provider's actions during a system configuration change. He assured that efforts were underway to address the situation urgently.
Reports indicated that numerous McDonald's outlets, particularly in the UK and Australia, experienced disruptions, causing frustration among customers unable to place orders. The impact varied across regions, with some locations forced to close temporarily.
Despite the challenges, McDonald's reported progress in restoring operations across affected countries. Stores in Japan, initially hit by the outage, began resuming operations, albeit with temporary cash-only transactions and manual calculations.
While the disruption garnered attention on social media platforms, including complaints from customers unable to order through the McDonald's app, the company thanked customers and staff for their patience as services gradually resumed.
The outage affected McDonald's restaurants worldwide, highlighting the scale of the incident across its extensive network of approximately 40,000 outlets globally, with significant footprints in the UK, Ireland, the United States, Japan, and Australia.