Starwood Hotels reveals hack, but says no consumer data taken

Starwood Hotels & Resorts on Friday said hackers had infiltrated the payment systems at 54 of its hotels in North America but that no customer data had been compromised.

The intrusions happened at restaurants and gift shops within the hotels. Hackers placed malware designed to collect payment card data on the point-of-sales terminals, the company said.

{mosads}Starwood insisted, however, that no sensitive information had been stolen and that the problem had been resolved.

“We have been working closely with law enforcement authorities and have been coordinating our efforts with the payment card organizations,” said Sergio Rivera, who leads company operations in the Americas. “We want to assure our customers that we have implemented additional security measures to help prevent this type of crime from reoccurring.”

Starwood owns or manages 1,222 properties worldwide, including 600 in North America.

Hackers hit some of the most prominent North American locations, including the three hotels in New York’s Times Square and two others in midtown Manhattan.

Major hotels in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, New Orleans and San Francisco were also infiltrated sometime between November 2014 and October of this year, the company said.

Hotels have become a more frequent target for hackers in recent years.

The Trump Hotel Collection, owned by Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump, confirmed in October that the luxury chain had uncovered a data breach at seven of its locations.