Massive data breach at Marriott’s Starwood hotels

The information of as many as 500 million people staying at Starwood hotels has been compromised and Marriott says it’s uncovered unauthorized access that’s been taking place within its Starwood network since 2014.

The company said Friday that credit card numbers and expirations dates of some guests may have been taken. For about 327 million people, the information exposed includes some combination of name, mailing address, phone number, email address, passport number, Starwood Preferred Guest account information, date of birth, gender, arrival and departure information, reservation date and communication preferences. For some guests, the information was limited to name and sometimes other data such as mailing address, email address or other information.

Marriott said that there was a breach of its database in September, which had guest information related to reservations at Starwood properties on or before Sept. 10.

Marriott discovered through the investigation that someone copied and encrypted guest information and tried to remove it.

Marriott has set up a website and call center for anyone who thinks that they are at risk, and on Friday will begin sending emails to those affected.

Marriott and Starwood merged two years ago and attempts to combine the loyalty programs for the hotels have been marred by technical difficulties.

WINK News reached out to Marriott for comment on the data breach. In a statement thay said:

“The situation has global impact but we do not have a breakdown by market at this time.

Up to approximately 500 million guests who made a reservation at a Starwood property are potentially impacted.”

All other information may be found here.