Burgers, Bots, and Breaches: What McHire’s Slip Means for $1-25M Revenue Companies

Last week security researchers cracked the admin account on McDonald’s McHire recruiting chatbot with the world’s most famous weak password—123456. That single slip let them pivot into an API flaw and rummage through 64 million job-applicant records: names, emails, phone numbers, chat transcripts, even answers to scheduling questions. The platform’s maker, Paradox.ai, patched the hole within a day, but not before the story hit every tech outlet from Wired to Tom’s Hardware. Tom's Hardware. WIRED

If you run a U S-based company pulling in $1 million to $25 million in revenue, you probably:

• outsource HR, marketing, or customer support to the same size AI vendors that power enterprise brands,

• collect sensitive data on job applicants, prospects, and customers, and

• lack a full-time security team to babysit every SaaS setting.

Translation: one vendor mis-step can drag your name into tomorrow’s breach headline.

What This Breach Means for Local CEOs & Owners

• Small vendors ≠ small blast radius

  • McHire sits behind franchise counters nationwide—and now 64 million people know it. Your payroll tool or CRM could expose thousands of leads in one go. CSO Online

• Default credentials are still everywhere

  • Researchers found multiple Paradox.ai test accounts protected by “123456.” Odds are a few of your cloud apps shipped with factory usernames that never got changed. Malwarebytes

• Regulatory tailwinds are stiffening

  • State privacy laws (CA, CO, VA) and the FTC’s growing appetite to fine “unfair security practices” now reach firms with as few as 100 employees.

• Reputational damage hits harder below $25 M

  • Unlike a Fortune 500 juggernaut, a regional brand can’t drown bad press in global ad spend; word-of-mouth is king.

Five Moves to Stay Off the Breach Map

You don’t need a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)—just a tight checklist and the will to run it.

1. Kill Every Default Password Today

   • Have staff audit all SaaS logins (yes, even “test” and “sandbox” accounts). Rotate to a manager-generated passphrase and enable MFA where possible.

2. Tag “Do-Not-Upload” Data

   • Label payroll files, pricing sheets, and customer PII in your drive with a red “No-AI” prefix. Psychological nudge = fewer accidental copy-pastes into ChatGPT.

3. Send a One-Page “AI Use Guide” to the Team

   • Green-light brainstorming prompts; ban anything that identifies a person, price, or proprietary formula. Include the line: “When in doubt, blank it out.”

4. Add Three Vendor Clauses Before Signing Renewals

   • Data Segregation (“Our data is never used to retrain public models.”)

   • Credential Hygiene (no default passwords; annual pentest attestation).

   • Bre­ach-Notification SLA (hours, not days).

5. Book a 30-Day Mini-Audit with a Fractional Pro

   • A $3-5 K fixed-fee engagement to scan for open S3 buckets, loose passwords, and risky API endpoints is cheaper than a breach retainer.

Real Talk from the Finance Seat

AI tools are slashing admin time 10–20× for small teams—but every shortcut introduces a new weak link. Keep the speed; bolt on the basics:

• One afternoon to rotate credentials.

• One page to steer employee AI use.

• One clause per contract to keep vendors honest.

Do that, and next week’s breach headline will feature someone else’s logo.