This morning CNBC published a news release revealing that Marriott’s Starwood Hotel's database has been hacked, compromising the information of 500 million guests.
Marriott shared that the data breach is still under investigation and they are unable to give a list of specific hotel locations effected, but they are fairly certain the breach has only impacted Starwood brands. The company plans to alert affected customers via email beginning today.
The information illegally accessed was the hotel’s reservations database, containing customer information all the way back to 2014. The hacker gained access to information including name, date of birth, gender, arrival and departure details, reservation dates, and communication preferences. Some guest’s payment information was potentially accessed as well.
It has been said that hotels are increasingly becoming a target for data breaches. Stay alert and aware about recent and potential data breaches to keep yourself safe!