Hackers Strike Intercontinental Hotels Group

A recent hacking attack on the hotel chain Intercontinental Hotels Group is suggesting that clients require being watchful of their payment cards for fraudulent transactions. The attack used malware to strike IHG following which twelve of the hotels' locations said there were potential breaches of clients' credit and debit card data between August and December 2016, thus reports KrebsOnSecurity.

Malware had infected the servers of the different hotels of the group located in United States so as for determining track data by accessing the magnetic strips of the payment cards. The data included names of card holders, card numbers, the verification codes and expiration dates of the cards, which the bars and restaurants of the hotels had collected. There was not any impact on the transactions at the front desks of the hotels.

The hotel chain hasn't openly said whether the hackers actually stole any data as well as what number of customers' payment cards got hacked. However, information regarding these along with the time of infection and the time span of the infection is obtainable from a list the hotel has prepared. According to the company, clients of the hotel chain must verify whether any suspicious transaction occurred with them while inform authorities according to need. The investigation continues for determining whether additional hotels are impacted so posted Digital Trends online dated February 6, 2017.

Intercontinental states that IHG in coordination with various security companies is examining its security arrangements and assures that the problem has been rectified, while is evaluating methods for improving its existing security measures.

Moreover, the hotel chain is in coordination with agencies of law enforcement towards investigation of the hack while it has also requested banks for aiding in making clients aware.

The current instance of Intercontinental becoming target of nefarious people isn't a lone one. As a matter of fact, hotels are getting to be hackers' popular targets in attempts to grab payment card information considering how enormous number of transactions takes place at hotels as big as Intercontinental. The stolen databases often get sold online through illegitimate marketplaces to earn quick and hefty profits.

» SPAMfighter News - 2/10/2017