Malware hits 41 Hyatt Hotel property

Hyatt Hotel's payment card systems were infected with malware, which has exposed credit card data details from 41 hotels in 11 countries.

The chain announced that their cybersecurity team had discovered the hack back in July this year. The team had observed a sign of unauthorized access of payment card information system of certain Hyatt-managed locations between March 18, 2017, and July 2, 2017.

In a statement, the Hotels explained that they "Upon discovery, we launched a comprehensive investigation to understand what happened and how this occurred, which included engaging leading third-party experts, payment card networks and authorities.”

“Hyatt’s layers of defense and other cybersecurity measures helped to identify and resolve the issue. While this incident affects a small percentage of total payment cards used at the affected hotels during the at-risk dates."

According to the Hotel authorities, personal information such as names, card numbers, expiration dates and internal verification codes with cards that were either manually entered or swiped at the front desk were at risk.
A total of 41 Hyatt hotels around the world has been affected by this breach, and almost half of them are in China.

Other includes hotels in Brazil, Columbia, Guam, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea and Hawaii in the United States.

'We have directly contacted all guests for whom we have appropriate and reliable contact information that used payment cards at affected hotels during the at-risk dates,' Chuck Floyd, global president of operations for Hyatt Hotels Corporation.

'We do not have appropriate contact information for all guests, so we have also posted this notice with a list of affected hotels and respective at-risk dates,' he concluded.