Marriott Hotels has suffered its second data spillage in as many years after an “unexpected amount” of guests’ data was accessed through two compromised employee logins, the under-fire chain has confirmed.
The size of the latest data exposure has not been disclosed, though Marriott admitted it seemed to have started in January 2020 and was detected “at the end of February.”
“We identified that an unexpected amount of guest information may have been accessed using the login credentials of two employees at a franchise property,” said Marriott, without identifying which of its 6,900 hotels worldwide was at the epicenter of the intrusion.
“Upon discovery, we confirmed that the login credentials were disabled, immediately began an investigation, implemented heightened monitoring, and arranged resources to inform and assist guests,” it continued.
Marriott did not explain why it took four weeks to begin alerting customers about the digital break-in.
Stolen data included name, postal and email addresses, phone numbers, Bonvoy loyalty card balance, gender, date of birth, linked loyalty scheme information from other companies and room/personal preferences.
The hotel chain asserted that credit card data, PINs, passport and driver’s licence information was not accessed by the hackers, whose identities are so far unknown.
Robin Edgar
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