With customer security a top priority in most hotels today, many hotels have learnt this lesson the hard way. Here is the list of the famous five who were hacked in the last couple of years. Â
1. Radisson Hotels and Resorts
Radisson Hotels and Resorts had revealed that the computer systems in some of the corporation’s US and Canadian branches were hacked into between November 2008 and May 2009.
The hotel chain had announced in an open letter that several Radisson Hotel computer systems had been accessed without authorization. Information on the systems in question included the guests’ credit or debit card details, such as the name on the card, the number itself, and the expiration date.
Unable to confirm which locations were affected, Radisson has instead asked all guests to review their account statements and credit reports, and report any inaccuracies or suspicious activity to their bank and the police, local AG’s office or the FTC.
Â
2. Westin hotel
The Hotel chain had launched an investigation after hackers stole the personal data of guests in 2008.
Details of up to 8 million people were exposed after security information was sold by a network operated by the Russian mafia, according to media reports, but the hotel chain had said the incident had been “blown out of proportion”.
The chain, which has 4,000 hotels in 80 countries, said just ten people had been affected by a security breach on August 21, 2008.
The hotel had said three separate attempts were made via a single log-on ID to access the data from a hotel in Berlin. The company said in a statement that a Trojan horse virus was detected by the hotel’s anti-virus software.
The compromised log-in ID permitted access to reservations data for that hotel only, and that the computer in question has since been removed.
The stolen data included addresses, telephone numbers, credit card details, and places of employment.
3. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts
Thieves hacked into the hotel chain’s networks to steal credit card information for the third time in January 2010.
The security breach by now has happened thrice between October 2009 and the end of January 2010, when it was finally discovered by the company. The company then hired an assessment firm to do forensics on the incident.
The hacker gained access to one of Wyndham Hotel Group’s data centres by going through centralised network connections, the company said in an open letter to customers on February 18. Credit card data was then systematically moved to a URL outside the Wyndham network.
Although Wyndham declined to say how many guests or hotels were affected, they offered a FAQ for those customers who might be affected, including tips on how to freeze one’s credit.
4. Destination Hotels & Resorts
Hackers had broken into the payment processing system of Destination Hotels & Resorts, a high-end chain best known for its resort hotels in destinations such as Vail, Colorado; Lake Tahoe, California; and Maui, Hawaii in June 2010.
Guests who stayed at 21 of the resort’s 30 hotels may have been victimized by the scheme, that compromised point-of-sale systems.
The company refused to release any details of the incident — citing an ongoing investigation by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation — but in a note posted to its Web site said that it had “uncovered a malicious software program inserted into its credit card processing system from a remote source.”
Destination Hotels did not say how many people had their credit card numbers stolen.
5. The Best Western hotel
The Best Western hotel chain gave details of a hack involving one of its hotels, but downplayed reports that 8 million customers were affected in August 2008.
Best Western had also rejected claims that it had suffered a massive compromise of customer details.
It did, however, confirm that it had suffered a breach at one of its German hotels, but denied reports that every customer using Best Western European hotels since 2007 had had their booking details compromised.
Best Western insisted that the compromised log-in ID only permitted access to reservations data for the Berlin hotel.
Moreover, Best Western said the log-in ID was immediately terminated, and the computer in question had been removed from use.
While reports had estimated that 8 million people had been affected by the hack, Best Western claimed that only 10 customers had been affected.
