Marriott: Info of Up to 500 Million Guests Compromised After Security Breach

Marriott: Info of Up to 500 Million Guests Compromised After Security Breach

Marriott International said that as many as 500 million guests’ information could have been accessed as part of a breach of its Starwood guest reservation database.

"We deeply regret this incident happened. We fell short of what our guests deserve and what we expect of ourselves. We are doing everything we can to support our guests, and using lessons learned to be better moving forward,” Marriott President and CEO Arne Sorenson said in a statement.

The Breach

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According to Marriott, it first received an alert in September form an internal security tool of an effort to access the database.

Upon investigating, the company found that there had been unauthorized access since 2014 and that an “unauthorized party” had copied and encrypted information.

On November 19, the Marriott determined that the information was from its Starwood database.

The information includes combinations of a 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.

The Marriott adds that some customers may also have had their credit card information taken.

Marriott Taking Steps

Marriott is taking steps to address the situation and is working with authorities.

For those worried that their information may have been stolen, the Marriott has set up a website and will be notifying customers via email.

Marriott will also provide guests with one year of WebWatcher.