If you used a credit card at Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express or InterContinental hotels restaurant/bars last year, listen up.
InterContinental Hotel Groups (IHG) which manages thousands of hotels worldwide, confirmed a data breach impacted 12 properties nationwide. In a statement they issued on Feb. 3, 2017, IHG said malware was installed on servers that processed payment cards used at restaurants and bars. IHG is notifying guests who used their payment cards at the properties from August 2016 to December 2016.
“The malware searched for track data (cardholder name, card number, expiration date, and internal verification code) read from the magnetic stripe of a payment card as it was being routed through the affected server,” according to the statement.
Cards used at the front desk of these properties were not affected. It sounds as if the number of properties affected could grow, as IHG admitted the investigation at other properties in the “Americas region” is ongoing.
The company first announced the investigation into a possible breach on December 28, 2016. KrebsOnSecurity broke news of the possible breach 12 days prior to that, with a story posted Dec. 16, 2106.
Five California hotels were affected, along with one in Atlanta, GA, one in Chicago, IL, one in Washington, D.C., one in Nashville, TN, and one in Puerto Rico. Two international hotels, including one in Aruba and one in Toronto were also listed. The full list can be found here.
Hotel chains have been targeted by cyber thieves many times previously, as KrebsOnSecurity points out in this story:
“Hotel brands that have acknowledged card breaches over the last year after prompting by KrebsOnSecurity include Kimpton Hotels, Trump Hotels (twice), Hilton, Mandarin Oriental, and White Lodging (twice). Card breaches also have hit hospitality chains Starwood Hotels and Hyatt.”
Point of sale malware is behind most of the big credit card breaches that have been in the news, including Target and Home Depot.
IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns nearly 5,100 hotels and more than 750,000 guest rooms in almost 100 countries, with nearly 1,500 hotels in its development pipeline.
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