From PC Mag: Chinese state hackers may have been responsible for the massive Marriott data breach, which exposed the personal information of up to 500 million guests, according to a new report from The New York Times.
Citing two unnamed sources "briefed on the investigation," the newspaper on Tuesday reported that the attack is believed to be part of a larger "intelligence-gathering effort" by China's Ministry of State Security spy agency. Besides the information they swiped from Marriott over the last four years, the hackers also reportedly obtained data from health insurers including Anthem and "the security clearance files of millions more Americans" as part of the effort, the report notes.
Announced last month, the Marriott breach exposed 327 million hotel guests' names, mailing addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, passport numbers, birthdates, genders, and Starwood Preferred Guest account details. The remaining 170 million or so guests had their names, mailing addresses, and email addresses stolen. The hackers also swiped some guests' encrypted payment card details, along with their associated expiration dates, and the components required to decrypt them.
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