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Hacker attacks InterContinental – Payment card breach at 12 hotels for 4 months last year

Hacker - Photo by bykst/pixabay.com

Atlanta – 04 Februar 2017 –
Last year, hacker attacked Mandarin Oriental, Trump and former Starwood hotels – Now, 12 InterContinental hotels in the U.S. confirmed payment card breaches. Guests reported unauthorized charges from August to December 2016.

IHG started an investigation end of last year – in a news release the hotel chain stated, “that malware was installed on servers that processed payment cards used at restaurants and bars of 12 IHG managed properties.” Cards used at the front desk of these properties were not affected. 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.

A list of the affected restaurants and bars, along with the specific time frames for each (times vary by location) is located at www.ihg.com/protectingourguests. The site also contains more information on steps guests may take to protect their information. It is always advisable to remain vigilant to the possibility of fraud by reviewing your payment card statements for any unauthorized activity. You should immediately report any unauthorized charges to your card issuer because payment card rules generally provide that cardholders are not responsible for unauthorized charges reported in a timely manner. The phone number to call is usually on the back of your payment card.

IHG has been working with the security firms to review IHG’s security measures, confirm that this issue has been remediated, and evaluate ways to enhance IHG’s security measures. IHG has notified law enforcement and is working with the payment card networks so that the banks that issue payment cards can be made aware and initiate heightened monitoring on the affected cards. IHG also has established a dedicated call center to answer any questions affected guests may have.