Starwood is a well-known and popular chain of hotels that includes a number of brands: W Hotels, Westin, Le Meridien, Sheraton, etc. It was discovered recently that a total of 54 various Starwood hotel locations were hit with a malware designed with the purpose of stealing customer payment information.
What do you need to know about the recent Starwood Hotels malware data breach?
1. Which locations were hit by the malware that compromised customer credit card information? You can access the list of the 54 affected locations and the dates of the breaches provided by Starwood here.
2. Who could be impacted by the data breach of various Starwood hotels? The target of the malware was apparently point-of-sale transactions. This type of transaction would be limited to purchases made in hotel restaurants or gift shops. Starwood stated emphatically that there was no indication that the guest reservation system or Starwood Preferred Guest membership system were compromised during the breach.
3. What specific “data” is actually at risk? The designer of this particular malware intended it to obtain cardholder names, credit card numbers used for purchases, the security codes found on the back of the card, and expiration dates. Having said that, Starwood responded to this query by saying that …show more content…
What type of action was taken in response to the breach? The 54 affected hotels have all secured customer payment information stating that the malware no longer poses a threat to customers and guests who wish to use their credit cards at Starwood hotels. They have worked closely with law enforcement on the issue as well as coordinating their efforts to secure guest data with payment card organizations. Additional security measures have been implemented in order to avoid this type of issue in the future. Starwood also teamed up with AllClear ID to provide those affected with the change to utilize professional identity protection and credit monitoring for one year without
What do you need to know about the recent Starwood Hotels malware data breach?
1. Which locations were hit by the malware that compromised customer credit card information? You can access the list of the 54 affected locations and the dates of the breaches provided by Starwood here.
2. Who could be impacted by the data breach of various Starwood hotels? The target of the malware was apparently point-of-sale transactions. This type of transaction would be limited to purchases made in hotel restaurants or gift shops. Starwood stated emphatically that there was no indication that the guest reservation system or Starwood Preferred Guest membership system were compromised during the breach.
3. What specific “data” is actually at risk? The designer of this particular malware intended it to obtain cardholder names, credit card numbers used for purchases, the security codes found on the back of the card, and expiration dates. Having said that, Starwood responded to this query by saying that …show more content…
What type of action was taken in response to the breach? The 54 affected hotels have all secured customer payment information stating that the malware no longer poses a threat to customers and guests who wish to use their credit cards at Starwood hotels. They have worked closely with law enforcement on the issue as well as coordinating their efforts to secure guest data with payment card organizations. Additional security measures have been implemented in order to avoid this type of issue in the future. Starwood also teamed up with AllClear ID to provide those affected with the change to utilize professional identity protection and credit monitoring for one year without