Once again Marriott International under attack by hackers. It’s a big threat to all big companies around the world.
Marriott Reveals Data Breach That Impacted 5.2 Million Customers Across the world. Marriott International announced last week a data breach incident that could have put the data of up to 5.2 million guests at risk. This is the second time when Marriott customers have faced a hack as the company previously reported an incident in December 2018 affecting up to 500 million customer records.
The Marriott believed that the hack started in the middle of January this year. To notify some of its customers, Marriott sent an email containing a notice that explains the issue. It also established a dedicated website and call centre resources to help impacted users.
An unexpected amount of guest information was accessed using the login credentials of two employees at a franchise property. While Marriott identified the incident at the end of February, the hack is believed to have started in the middle of January.
“Upon discovery, the company confirmed that the login credentials were disabled, immediately began an investigation, implemented heightened monitoring, and arranged resources to inform and assist guests. Marriott also notified relevant authorities and is supporting their investigations,” the Marriott said in a press statement.
Who’s Affected by This Hack?
“At this point, the company believes that the following information may have been involved for up to approximately 5.2 million guests, although not all of this information was present for every guest involved:
- contact details (e.g., name, mailing address, email address, and phone number)
- loyalty account information (e.g., account number and points balance, but not passwords)
- additional personal details (e.g., company, gender, and birthday day and month)
- partnerships and affiliations (e.g., linked airline loyalty programs and numbers)
- preferences (e.g., stay/room preferences and language preference)”
Furthermore, the company has disabled existing passwords of customers using its loyalty programme Marriott Bonvoy.
In addition to detailing the scope of the breach, Marriott sent the email to its customers that included the details of its dedicated website and call centre resources to provide additional information for the affected guests. The company is also offering free enrolment on the personal information service IdentityWorks for one year through which customers can identify information that they would like to get monitored by the service. However, it is limited to markets such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
How Serious Is This Hack?
Marriott additionally warned its clients to be vigilant against potential “phishing” emails and communications that appear to be sent from the company’s email addresses and ask for important details such as payment cards and bank account numbers.
It is unclear whether the impact of the latest breach is limited to certain markets or customers across the globe.
Questions by People & Experts:
What will be future of privacy and this accident put questions to online services and this of loyalty programme of offer different companies around the world?
Will companies take serious steps against this kind of accidents and make sure of their customers’ privacy?
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