Marriott Reservation Database Hacked

[Bambino]

This may not apply to anyone in the UK, but I thought I'd put it here just in case.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/30/marriott-says-its-starwood-database-was-breached-onapproximately-500...

[Cleoriff]

This was on the BBC news at lunchtime @Bambino

Absolutely awful...affecting millions so I believe.

[jonsie]

No danger here but hell's teeth, that's a lot of customers worldwide!

[Glory1]

And according to the report hackers have been stealing guests personal information since 2014! Thank God it was finaĺly picked up in 20018. Imagine if this carried on undetected, how many more millions would have been affected.

Thankfully, I haven't stayed in an hotel either here or in the States for years. But I feel sorry for all those customers affected by this with the hassle they'll face cancelling cards, and do they change their phone numbers? And these hackers have their home addresses. An absolute nightmare. 

[Anonymous]

As I'd imagine a lot of the customers are probably so called 'high net worth' individuals I'd imagine their legal department in the US are bracing themselves for quite a few individual civil actions or one huge class action and it's probably brown trousers time for the Executives.

[TallTrees]

Not here either @jonsie

I am wondering when will a persons details become safely stored?

[Glory1]

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@TallTrees wrote:

Not here either @jonsie

I am wondering when will a persons details become safely stored?

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The problem @TallTrees is that as systems become more sophisticated, so to do the hackers and scammers. So the answer is no system will ever be 100% secure. It's why it's also important to keep a sharp eye on your bank account and report any unusual activity straight away.

Unfortunately, many people think 'it's never going to happen to me'. We see that here on the forum with people not noticing for several months or longer that their phone bills are higher than they should be due to some scammer milking them for some game or health aid they didn't want or knowingly sign up for.

[TallTrees]

Hi @Glory1

I know you are right.

Help from O2 re phones etc.,  here to do as much as possible to try and avoid scammers

but can't avoid if registering at hotels of course and yet to get discovered other places.

Funny if it wasn't so frightening ~  it used to be~  keep all your possessions in a 

safe place! Hotel safe for passport etc.  certainly has changed now ~ know where passport is and money in pocket but others working hard in places you have no idea all this being robbed!  

[MrFrenzy]

What a terrible amount of people to be affected by this breach! I regularly stay in Marriott hotels all over Europe for work, and paid for by work. I'm by no means a high flying executive or director but I do order room service and hand over my passport to reception- I wonder if my info was stolen 😞 !

[Anonymous]

@TallTrees

Something that has changed is that to enable reservations via the Internet these systems have had to be connected to the Internet whereas previously hotels and their reservation call centres would have a link back to systems at HQ which was not connected to the 'net.

In the same way, banks were connected to their ATMs, to each other and to payment processors but there was no 'public' access as such.