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Hyatt Hotels Reports Data Breach, Blames PoS Malware

Another major hotel chain hit by PoS malware

Dec 27, 2015 22:06 GMT  ·  By
Hyatt Hotels hit by PoS malware
   Hyatt Hotels hit by PoS malware

Hyatt Hotels has announced a data breach affecting its customers' financial data, which at a later investigation proved to originate from a malware infection on its PoS systems.

Unlike other hotel chains that experienced a similar incident, Hyatt was very quiet and did not reveal any details on its investigation, saying only it would strengthen the security of its systems.

"As always, customers should review their payment card account statements closely and report any unauthorized charges to their card issuer immediately," stated Stephanie Sheppard, Hyatt spokeswoman. "Payment card rules generally provide that cardholders are not responsible for unauthorized charges that are timely reported."

Currently, Hyatt's portfolio comprises 625+ properties in over 52 countries. The hotel chain includes brands like Hyatt, Park Hyatt, Andaz, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Centric, Hyatt Regency, Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, Hyatt Zilara, Hyatt Ziva, Hyatt Residences, and Hyatt Residence Club.

Hyatt representatives keeping mum on details

Hotel representatives did not specify what brands were affected, what hotel properties, and what kind of data was stolen. It is yet unknown if the malware infection was found on the hotels' own reservation system PoS, or on the payment processing system used by gift shops and restaurants located on the hotels' premises.

Customers that stayed at any of the Hyatt hotels in the last year are encouraged to call 1-877-218-3036 (US and Canada) or +1-814-201-3665 (International) from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. EST. This is how they can find out if they stayed at properties where the malware was found.

Hyatt Hotels is just the latest hotel chain to suffer a data breach this fall. Previously, data breaches were reported by the Trump Hotel Collection, Starwood Hotels, and Hilton Hotels. Earlier this year, similar reports came from the InterContinental Hotel Group, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Marriott (later acquired by Starwood), Sheraton (also acquired by Starwood), and Mandarin Oriental Hotels.