Marriott announces new data breach; up to 5.2 million guests affected
Mar 31, 20, 7:57 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2012
Programs: BA Blue, IHG Spire, Marriott Gold
Posts: 381
Marriott announces new data breach; up to 5.2 million guests affected
Anyone else get an email from them today about their account being compromised? I got the following (only posting the first bit as it's a long email!)
Dear Valued Guest, We are writing to let you know that some of your information may have been accessed without authorization. We are sorry that this occurred, and this message explains what happened, how we can assist you, and steps you can take.
What Happened
Hotels operated and franchised under Marriotts brands use an application to help provide services to guests at hotels. At the end of February 2020, we identified that an unexpected amount of guest information may have been accessed using the login credentials of two employees at a franchise property. We believe this activity started in mid-January 2020. Upon discovery, we confirmed that the login credentials were disabled, immediately began an investigation, implemented heightened monitoring, and arranged resources to inform and assist guests. Your information was among the information that appears to have been accessed.
More info here:: https://mysupport.marriott.com/
Dear Valued Guest, We are writing to let you know that some of your information may have been accessed without authorization. We are sorry that this occurred, and this message explains what happened, how we can assist you, and steps you can take.
What Happened
Hotels operated and franchised under Marriotts brands use an application to help provide services to guests at hotels. At the end of February 2020, we identified that an unexpected amount of guest information may have been accessed using the login credentials of two employees at a franchise property. We believe this activity started in mid-January 2020. Upon discovery, we confirmed that the login credentials were disabled, immediately began an investigation, implemented heightened monitoring, and arranged resources to inform and assist guests. Your information was among the information that appears to have been accessed.
More info here:: https://mysupport.marriott.com/
Mar 31, 20, 7:59 am
#2
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Cockeysville, MD
Programs: Marriott Rewards Lifetime Titanium, Amex Plat, Hertz Gold 5*, National Exec, AA Plat
Posts: 9,443
Another Marriott Data Breach??
Didn't see a thread on this. Last night I suddenly had to change my PW and use 2 factor authentication the 3 times I logged in. Got the email below this morning.
Dear Valued Guest, We are writing to let you know that some of your information may have been accessed without authorization. We are sorry that this occurred, and this message explains what happened, how we can assist you, and steps you can take.
What Happened Hotels operated and franchised under Marriotts brands use an application to help provide services to guests at hotels. At the end of February 2020, we identified that an unexpected amount of guest information may have been accessed using the login credentials of two employees at a franchise property. We believe this activity started in mid-January 2020. Upon discovery, we confirmed that the login credentials were disabled, immediately began an investigation, implemented heightened monitoring, and arranged resources to inform and assist guests. Your information was among the information that appears to have been accessed.
What Information Was Involved Although Marriott's investigation is ongoing, we currently have no reason to believe that the information involved included Marriott Bonvoy account passwords or PINs, payment card information, passport information, national IDs, or drivers license numbers.
At this point, we believe that the following information may have been involved, although not all of this information was present for every guest involved: ● contact details (e.g., name, mailing address, email address, and phone number) ● loyalty account information (e.g., account number and points balance, but not passwords) ● additional personal details (e.g., company, gender, and birthday day and month) ● partnerships and affiliations (e.g., linked airline loyalty programs and numbers) ● preferences (e.g., stay/room preferences and language preference)
What We Are Doing ● We have set up a dedicated website (www.mysupport.marriott.com) where you can find more information. ● We have also established dedicated call center resources, which can be reached by calling the numbers below. The call center resources will be staffed during ordinary business hours in the United States, 8:00am-8:00pm EDT Monday through Friday. Language support will be provided in English and French, and additional translation services will be available upon request.
Location
Number
United States/Canada +1-800-598-9655
Australia 1800280257
France 0805540130
Germany 08006644414
United Kingdom 08003457018
Rest of the World (toll may apply) +1-402-952-5356
● Where available, Marriott is offering guests involved the option to enroll in IdentityWorks, a personal information monitoring service, free of charge for 1 year. This service will be provided by Experian, a global data and information services provider. This is an optional service that allows you to identify information that you would like to have the service monitor; how much information to include in the monitoring is completely up to you. Any information that you provide to Experian will only be used by Experian for the sole purpose of the monitoring service. Due to regulatory and other reasons, IdentityWorks or similar products are not available in all countries/regions. IdentityWorks is currently available in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Language support for online enrollment is available in English, French, French Canadian, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. ○ To use IdentityWorks to start monitoring your personal information please follow the steps below: ◾ Ensure that you enroll by June 30, 2020 (your code will not work after this date.) ◾ Visit the Experian IdentityWorks website to enroll: US Residents:
https://www.experianidworks.com/identity Non-US Residents:
http://www.globalidworks.com/identity1 ◾ Provide your activation code: US Residents: 2CZM8QXV6 Non-US Residents: 3F23BXQ3X ● If you are a Marriott Bonvoy member: ○ Even though we currently have no reason to believe that passwords were involved in the incident, we have disabled your existing Marriott Bonvoy password, so when you log in to your Marriott Bonvoy account at Marriott.com, you will be prompted to change your password. ○ You will also be prompted to enable multi-factor authentication to further protect access to your account. ● We have notified relevant authorities and are supporting their investigations.
Additional Steps You Can Take To guard against the information involved being used for phishing or social engineering attempts or attempts to access and use the points in your Marriott Bonvoy account, you can take a number of precautionary steps, in addition to enrolling in IdentityWorks: ● If you have a Marriott Bonvoy account but have not activated your online access to it and set up a password, you should do so now. ● Use good password management practices, including not using easily guessed passwords and not using the same password across multiple accounts. ● Monitor your Marriott Bonvoy account for any activity that you did not initiate and notify us of any suspicious activity. ● You should not provide any informationespecially payment card information, other financial account information, online account information, or passwordsto anyone who calls or otherwise contacts you purporting to be from Marriott or a Marriott brand hotel. Marriott will never call or email you to ask you to provide this information by phone or email. ● You should be vigilant against possible phishing emails that appear to be (but are not) sent from Marriott email addresses.
Again, we are sorry that this occurred. If you have any further questions, you can contact us by: ● Visiting our dedicated website: www.mysupport.marriott.com ● Calling us at the numbers listed above
Stephanie C. Linnartz
Group President, Consumer Operations, Technology and Emerging Businesses
Dear Valued Guest, We are writing to let you know that some of your information may have been accessed without authorization. We are sorry that this occurred, and this message explains what happened, how we can assist you, and steps you can take.
What Happened Hotels operated and franchised under Marriotts brands use an application to help provide services to guests at hotels. At the end of February 2020, we identified that an unexpected amount of guest information may have been accessed using the login credentials of two employees at a franchise property. We believe this activity started in mid-January 2020. Upon discovery, we confirmed that the login credentials were disabled, immediately began an investigation, implemented heightened monitoring, and arranged resources to inform and assist guests. Your information was among the information that appears to have been accessed.
What Information Was Involved Although Marriott's investigation is ongoing, we currently have no reason to believe that the information involved included Marriott Bonvoy account passwords or PINs, payment card information, passport information, national IDs, or drivers license numbers.
At this point, we believe that the following information may have been involved, although not all of this information was present for every guest involved: ● contact details (e.g., name, mailing address, email address, and phone number) ● loyalty account information (e.g., account number and points balance, but not passwords) ● additional personal details (e.g., company, gender, and birthday day and month) ● partnerships and affiliations (e.g., linked airline loyalty programs and numbers) ● preferences (e.g., stay/room preferences and language preference)
What We Are Doing ● We have set up a dedicated website (www.mysupport.marriott.com) where you can find more information. ● We have also established dedicated call center resources, which can be reached by calling the numbers below. The call center resources will be staffed during ordinary business hours in the United States, 8:00am-8:00pm EDT Monday through Friday. Language support will be provided in English and French, and additional translation services will be available upon request.
Location
NumberUnited States/Canada
+1-800-598-9655Australia
1800280257France
0805540130Germany
08006644414United Kingdom
08003457018Rest of the World (toll may apply)
+1-402-952-5356● Where available, Marriott is offering guests involved the option to enroll in IdentityWorks, a personal information monitoring service, free of charge for 1 year. This service will be provided by Experian, a global data and information services provider. This is an optional service that allows you to identify information that you would like to have the service monitor; how much information to include in the monitoring is completely up to you. Any information that you provide to Experian will only be used by Experian for the sole purpose of the monitoring service. Due to regulatory and other reasons, IdentityWorks or similar products are not available in all countries/regions. IdentityWorks is currently available in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Language support for online enrollment is available in English, French, French Canadian, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. ○ To use IdentityWorks to start monitoring your personal information please follow the steps below: ◾ Ensure that you enroll by June 30, 2020 (your code will not work after this date.) ◾ Visit the Experian IdentityWorks website to enroll: US Residents:
https://www.experianidworks.com/identity Non-US Residents:
http://www.globalidworks.com/identity1 ◾ Provide your activation code: US Residents: 2CZM8QXV6 Non-US Residents: 3F23BXQ3X ● If you are a Marriott Bonvoy member: ○ Even though we currently have no reason to believe that passwords were involved in the incident, we have disabled your existing Marriott Bonvoy password, so when you log in to your Marriott Bonvoy account at Marriott.com, you will be prompted to change your password. ○ You will also be prompted to enable multi-factor authentication to further protect access to your account. ● We have notified relevant authorities and are supporting their investigations.
Additional Steps You Can Take To guard against the information involved being used for phishing or social engineering attempts or attempts to access and use the points in your Marriott Bonvoy account, you can take a number of precautionary steps, in addition to enrolling in IdentityWorks: ● If you have a Marriott Bonvoy account but have not activated your online access to it and set up a password, you should do so now. ● Use good password management practices, including not using easily guessed passwords and not using the same password across multiple accounts. ● Monitor your Marriott Bonvoy account for any activity that you did not initiate and notify us of any suspicious activity. ● You should not provide any informationespecially payment card information, other financial account information, online account information, or passwordsto anyone who calls or otherwise contacts you purporting to be from Marriott or a Marriott brand hotel. Marriott will never call or email you to ask you to provide this information by phone or email. ● You should be vigilant against possible phishing emails that appear to be (but are not) sent from Marriott email addresses.
Again, we are sorry that this occurred. If you have any further questions, you can contact us by: ● Visiting our dedicated website: www.mysupport.marriott.com ● Calling us at the numbers listed above
Stephanie C. Linnartz
Group President, Consumer Operations, Technology and Emerging Businesses
Mar 31, 20, 8:03 am
#3
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Cockeysville, MD
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Posts: 9,443
Yes--we posted threads almost the same time. Last night Marriott.com made me change my PW and use 2 factor authorization. Didn't know why until I got the email you did.
Mar 31, 20, 10:18 am
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Denver, CO, USA
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Posts: 26,264
I am a lucky one, apparently. 5.2 million others, not so much.
https://www.businesstraveller.com/bu...e-data-breach/
Changed my password anyway. 
https://www.businesstraveller.com/bu...e-data-breach/
Marriott believes that the following information could have been attained:
- Contact details
- Loyalty account information (but not passwords)
- Additional personal details, such as company, gender and date of birth
- Partnerships and affiliations e.g. linked airline loyalty programmes
- Preferences e.g. room/stay and language preference
Mar 31, 20, 11:05 am
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: NYC
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Posts: 15,928
I was not part of the breach.
That said, I did not get an email about it. I saw it mentioned on another website with the link to check.
-J.
Based on the email address and/or Marriott Bonvoy number that you provided to us, we do not see any indication that your information was involved in the Incident.
-J.
Mar 31, 20, 1:40 pm
#8
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: stl
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Posts: 3,053
Mar 31, 20, 1:46 pm
#9
Join Date: Mar 2011
Programs: Delta Skymiles
Posts: 1,981
I have not been notified yet, however I think this company clearly is not taking these data breaches seriously.
Hotel chains are one of the only industries I can think of that REQUIRE nearly every customer to have a credit card on file at all times - whether you are a one time customer or a frequent customer. They are constantly holding these credit cards.
One time is acceptable every now and then, I think most customers and consumers recognize that these breaches will happen, and there is only so much we can do to prevent them.
But... customers are also counting on Marriott and other companies that deal in HIGH LIKELIHOOD of hacking industries to be at the forefront of these procedures and to treat their data safely and securely to the best of their abilities. Marriott really needs to get ahead of this. Right now, when eventually things reopen, I can imagine people saying “I’d rather stay at the hotel that doesn’t share my data”.
Timing couldn’t be worse!
Hotel chains are one of the only industries I can think of that REQUIRE nearly every customer to have a credit card on file at all times - whether you are a one time customer or a frequent customer. They are constantly holding these credit cards.
One time is acceptable every now and then, I think most customers and consumers recognize that these breaches will happen, and there is only so much we can do to prevent them.
But... customers are also counting on Marriott and other companies that deal in HIGH LIKELIHOOD of hacking industries to be at the forefront of these procedures and to treat their data safely and securely to the best of their abilities. Marriott really needs to get ahead of this. Right now, when eventually things reopen, I can imagine people saying “I’d rather stay at the hotel that doesn’t share my data”.
Timing couldn’t be worse!
Mar 31, 20, 3:05 pm
#11
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Mar 31, 20, 3:09 pm
#12
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Is there any indication of which hotel(s) caused the breach? Or even very generally the location?
Mar 31, 20, 4:15 pm
#14
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: USA
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So a hotel with lax security, malware, or a rogue guest/employee accessed 5.2 MILLION records? I don't fault the location at all when it is clearly a corporate failure.
Fire their corporate IT. All of them.
I assume even the largest, busiest hotel would only ever need to access 1000 or 2000 in a day. A peak usage fuse on the data should have been made and triggered a disconnect above 150% of normal inquiry rate.
Fire their corporate IT. All of them.
I assume even the largest, busiest hotel would only ever need to access 1000 or 2000 in a day. A peak usage fuse on the data should have been made and triggered a disconnect above 150% of normal inquiry rate.
Mar 31, 20, 5:00 pm
#15
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 144
Aplogies aside, this is a clear data breach under GDPR regulations. I hope thw regulators investigate this deeply and set an example for others who take customer information for granted by pathetic outdated routines and poor fraud investigations.
