Global hotel consortium Hyatt has been hit by a cyber-security scare, after a malware was detected in its systems in August 2015. Hyatt warned customers who visited 22 of their hotels in China to check their cards for unauthorized payments.
China Technology News reported that malware found in Hyatt's systems was programmed to collect payment card data, which includes names of cardholders, their card numbers, expiry dates and verification codes. Hyatt is yet to confirm whether any computer data has been stolen. Hyatt spokeswomen Stephanie Sheppard has maintained that "investigation is ongoing," and that they would disclose information once investigation was complete.
It is said that the malware was detected in Hyatt's computer systems on Aug. 30, 2015; however, the company formally reported the malware attack and notified its customers on Dec. 23 - three months after the incident, Guardian reported.
In an email to its customers, Lillian Zhang, Director of Hyatt's corporate communications, asked all users to review their payment card account statements closely, and report any unauthorized charges to the card. Hyatt owns 627 properties across 52 countries, while they have 22 hotels in China. It has not confirmed whether some or all of its establishments, including outside China, have been affected by the malware attack.
Chuck Floyd, Hyatt's global president of operations, mentioned that they launched an investigation as soon as they found out about malware, and hired third party cyber experts. According to Guardian, Hyatt hired independent experts to both investigate into the malware attack and beef up their cyber security.
It is said that hotel chains have, in particular, been very vulnerable to credit card breaches, eSecurity Planet reported. This is because they represent a "treasure trove" of sensitive customer data.
In 2015 alone, a lot has witnessed a record number of breaches across famous hotel chains, which includes Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, Hilton Worldwide, Trump Hotel Collection and Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Most of these companies have not disclosed details of their security breach; however, Starwood mentioned that their system was hit by a malware in 2015 which enabled unauthorized access to payment card data.