Hackers Run Off With Data on 8 Million Best Western Customers

From DailyTech: In what some are calling the biggest information heist in recent history, identity thieves managed to acquire a treasure chest of personal information on more than 8 million of hotel chain Best Western’s customers.

According to the Sunday Herald, the breach occurred late last Thursday when an unnamed Indian attacker found a way to gain access to Best Western’s reservations backend. Almost immediately, details were posted for sale on an underground marketplace reportedly run by Russian organized crime; buyers were able to use that information to download all of the system’s records from 2007 to 2008.

The Sunday Herald did not elaborate on how it identified the original poster to be Indian, the possibility of a probe to identify him or her, nor whether Best Western officials reported the heist to police.

The unknown Indian hacker acquired login credentials to Best Western’s system after he installed a Trojan horse on one of its reservation computers -- “The next time a member of staff logged in, her username and password were collected and stored,” reads the report.

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