Millions of Guests Affected by Latest Marriott Data Breach

It appears that data breaching is the new trend. Well, not a good trend apparently. Marriott International is the latest hotel falling victim.

According to reports, the hotel chain announced yesterday that hackers have accessed key internal data from the company’s system. The news stirred privacy concerns in the technology and hotel industries.

Earlier this month, MGN’s system also experienced a data breach. Personal information and contact details of various guests leaked online.

Now, Marriott reported that the hackers have accessed their data containing the personal information of approximately 5.2 million hotel guests.

Hackers obtained information such as names, personal information such as gender and age, contacts, and addresses. They accessed loyal account information such as point balances and account numbers for the Bonvoy rewards program of the company.

Other pieces of information exposed were employer information, data on affiliations, and hotel preferences also accessed.

Marriott says initial access took place through logins of two employees at a franchise property. Major technology news sites covered the announcement since it’s the second breach Marriott faces in two years.

The management of the international hotel franchise stressed that the investigation is ongoing. The company also said that it has no reason to believe that other crucial information such as passwords were accessed.

Marriott reportedly sent a notice of a breach to the affected guests through [email protected].

The international hotel company has also set up a website to cater to its costumers following the breach. The site focuses on answering requests from guests to uncover if the breach involved their information.

Privacy Threats

An expert said that the breach could be problematic for the company’s guests. The data from the breach could be a good raw material for such heinous cybercrimes.

Breaches aren’t new during this age of modern technology. In fact, many companies and institutions have been victims of this online crime.

As mentioned, this is not the first data break faced by Marriott. Back in November 2018, a massive data breach hack involved approximately 383 million people. 

A subsidiary of Marriott, Starwood said back in 2018 that its central reservation system was hacked. Exposing personal data and guest records that time and comparing it to this year’s data breach, it’s bigger.

Authorities from Europe immediately responded, issuing a fine of $123 million against the hotel company following the first breach.

However, experts say that despite the smaller number of guests involved, the breach should not be taken lightly.