Marriott’s Starwood Hotel: Massive data breach incident
The information of as many as 500 million people staying at Marriott’s Starwood Hotel has been compromised. Marriott says that it has uncovered unauthorized access that has been taking place within its Starwood network since 2014.
The company said that credit card numbers and expiration dates of some guests may have been taken. For about 327 million people the information exposed includes some combination of names, mailing address, phone number, e-mail address, passport number, Starwood Preferred Guest account information, date of birth, gender, arrival and departure information, reservation date and communication preferences. For some guests, the information was limited to name and sometimes other data such as mailing address or other information.
Marriott’s Starwood Hotel said that there was a breach of its database in September. It had guest information related to reservations at Starwood properties on or before September 10.
Starwood operates hotels under the following names: W Hotels, St. Regis, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, Westin Hotels and Resorts, Element Hotels, Aloft Hotels, The Luxury Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Le Meridien Hotels and Resorts, Four Points Sheraton and Design Hotels. Starwood Branded timeshare properties are also included.
Marriott International Inc. discovered through the investigation that someone copied and encrypted guest information and tried to remove it.
Marriott and Starwood merged 2 years ago. They attempted to combine the loyalty programmes for the hotels. But they have been facing many technical obstacles.
CEO Arne Sorenson said in a prepared statement that Marriott is still trying to phase our Starwood systems. Marriott has set up a website and call center for anyone who thinks that they are at risk. They will also be sending e-mails to those who were affected the breach. Shares of Marriott tubled 6 per cent before the opening bell.
Recently such incidents have been on the rise. Marriott’s Starwood Hotel were just a new target for these unethical hackers.
