Marriott says 5.2 million guests possibly exposed in new data breach
- Information taken may include names, addresses, phone numbers, birthdays and room preferences
- Hotel chain says it is still investigating, but does not believe passport numbers or credit card and driving licence information were accessed
Marriott said on Tuesday that millions of guests may have had their personal information accessed in the second major data breach to hit the hotel chain in less than two years.
Around 5.2 million guests worldwide may have been affected, the company said. The information taken may have included names, addresses, phone numbers, birthdays, loyalty information for linked companies like airlines and room preferences.
Marriott said it is still investigating but it does not believe credit card information, passport numbers or driving licence information was accessed.
The company said it noticed an unexpected amount of guest information was accessed at the end of February using the login credentials of two employees at a franchised property. The company said it believes the activity began in mid-January.
Marriott has disabled those logins and is assisting authorities in their investigation. The company did not say whether the employees whose logins were used were suspected.