STAMFORD, Conn. — Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. has engaged third-party forensic experts to conduct an extensive investigation to determine how the point-of-sale systems of 54 locations in North America were infected with malware, enabling unauthorized parties to access payment card data.
Based on the investigation, malware was detected that affected restaurants, gift shops and other point-of- sale systems at the relevant Starwood properties. The malware was designed to collect certain payment card information, including cardholder name, payment card number, security code and expiration date. The company said there was no evidence that its guest reservation, or Starwood Preferred Guest membership systems were affected by the breaches.
“Quickly after we became aware of the possible issue, we took prompt action to determine the facts. We have been working closely with law enforcement authorities and have been coordinating our efforts with the payment card organizations. We want to assure our customers that we have implemented additional security measures to help prevent this type of crime from reoccurring,” said Sergio Rivera, Starwood president, The Americas.
The two properties breached in Canada were the Le Centre Sheraton Montreal and W Montreal. The full list of properties affected can be found here.
