White Lodging Confirms Months-Old Cyber Attack, Customer Data Compromised at Hotels Across U.S.

White Lodging Services has finally owned up to the occurrence of a repeat cyber attack that compromised guests’ credit card numbers for a second time.

It’s confirmed. Hackers successfully attacked White Lodging Services Corporation twice in little more than a year. The first hack was reported in January 2014, compromising customer information obtained by the company’s properties throughout much of 2013. Reports of a second hack of similar caliber surfaced in February 2015, but White Lodging did not confirm suspicions until last week.

In a press release, the company confirmed that hackers had managed to obtain credit and debit card data, including the numbers, names, security codes and expiration dates, of guests who used the point-of-sale systems at the bars and restaurants of 10 different hotels across the U.S. between July 3, 2014 and February 6, 2015.

“After suffering a malware incident in 2014, we took various actions to prevent a recurrence, including engaging a third party security firm to provide security technology and managed services,” said Dave Sibley, White Lodging’s president and CEO of hospitality management. “These security measures were unable to stop the current malware occurrence on point of sale systems at food and beverage outlets in 10 hotels that we manage. We continue to remain committed to investing in the measures necessary to protect the personal information entrusted to us by our valuable guests. We deeply regret and apologize for this situation.”

According to the release, the following hotels were affected:

• Indianapolis Marriott Downtown –Indianapolis, Ind.
• Chicago Marriott Midway Airport — Chicago, Ill.
• Auburn Hills Marriott Pontiac at Centerpoint — Pontiac, Mich.
• Austin Marriott South Airport — Austin, Texas
• Boulder Marriott — Boulder, Colo.
• Denver Marriott South at Park Meadows — Denver, Colo.
• Louisville Marriott Downtown — Louisville, Ky.
• Renaissance Boulder Flatiron — Broomfield, Colo.
• Courtyard Austin Downtown — Austin, Texas
• Sheraton Hotel Erie Bayfront — Erie, Pa.

White Lodging is offering those affected a free year of fraud resolution and identity protection services through Experian. Guests who used cash to pay for food or drinks, as well guests who charged items to their rooms, are not at risk of having personal information compromised.

[Photo: Marriott]