Marriott data breach exposes 20 gigabytes of sensitive data

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Marriott data breach overview: 

• Who: Marriott International has confirmed that a data breach exposed 20 gigabytes of sensitive customer and employee data. 
• Why: The data breach reportedly occurred last month. 
• Where: Marriott International is a hotel group patronized by consumers nationwide.

Marriott International has confirmed that it has been affected by a data breach that exposed 20 gigabytes of sensitive customer data, including credit card information, to hackers. 

The data breach reportedly occurred last month after a hacking group tricked a Marriott employee into granting them access to the hotel group’s computer, TechCrunch reports. 

Marriott claims it investigated the data breach prior to the hackers making contact with them in an effort to secure an extortion payment, which the hotel group says it declined to pay. 

The hacking group claiming to be responsible for the data breach says it stole Marriott customer information that includes both credit card information and confidential information of both guests and hotel employees, TechCrunch reports. 

Marriott to notify individuals affected by latest data breach 

Marriott says it is readying itself to notify around 300 to 400 individuals it believes may have been affected by the data breach after having already informed law enforcement. 

The hotel chain previously fell victim to a data breach in 2014 that led to the records of nearly 340 million of its guests being exposed worldwide, TechCrunch reports. 

That data breach reportedly went undetected for years until 2018 and ultimately led to a $24 million fine levied by the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office. 

The data breach against Marriott also led to multidistrict litigation, which, in February 2020, a federal judge ruled the hotel group must face. 

Consumers claimed Marriott should and could have done more to protect their sensitive information from being accessed in a data breach. 

Hackers were reportedly able to steal the names, birthdates, mailing addresses, genders, payment card numbers, passport information and the tools necessary to be able to decrypt the data of cardholders in the data breach. 

Marriott also suffered a data breach in 2020 that affected around 5.2 million of its guests, reports TechCrunch. 

The hotel group reportedly declined to say what protections it has put in place to prevent further data breaches from occurring going forward. 

If you were affected by a data breach, you might qualify to participate in a data breach lawsuit.

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