So you find yourself swept up in potentially one of the largest data breaches in history – among as many as 500 million Starwood Hotel…
So you find yourself swept up in potentially one of the largest data breaches in history – among as many as 500 million Starwood Hotel customers whose personal data may have been accessed. What do you do now?
Cybersecurity and online fraud experts stress vigilance to protect your identity and other accounts from being attacked.
«The potential damage cannot be understated,» said Paige Boshell, a privacy and cybersecurity attorney with Privacy Counsel in Birmingham, Alabama. «This type of information may be retained and used over and over again for years.»
Among the potentially-accessed data belonging to customers who made reservations at Starwood hotels, Marriott says as many as 327 million customers’ data includes some combination of name, mailing address, phone number, email address, passport number, Starwood Preferred Guest account information, date of birth, gender, arrival and departure information, reservation date, and communication preferences.
More: Marriott says as many as 500 million Starwood guests data may have been breached
Also, for some Starwood guests, the data may also include payment card numbers and payment card expiration dates, but the payment card numbers were encrypted, Marriott says.
Marriott says the breach does not involve reservations made at Marriott hotels, as those are maintained on a separate reservation system on a different network. Starwood Hotels include W Hotels, St. Regis, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, Westin Hotels & Resorts, Element Hotels, Aloft Hotels, The Luxury Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts, Four Points by Sheraton and Design Hotels. Starwood branded timeshare properties are also included.
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Marriott has begun emailing guests whose email addresses are in the database.
