Ut-oh.
Without regard to where you sit on the political spectrum, it is unprecedented for a US president to have business interests in many businesses, ranging from golf courses to hotels in Washington. When one of the enterprises gets hacked the problem becomes particularly concerning because of the potential guests.
Here, Trump Hotels provides notice of a recent vendor hack. Today’s Washington Post has preliminary details.
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Guests at 14 Trump properties, including hotels in Washington, New York and Vancouver, have had their credit card information exposed, marking the third time in as many years that a months-long security breach has affected customers of the chain of luxury hotels.
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The latest instance occurred between August 2016 and March 2017, according to a notice on the company’s website, and included guest names, addresses and phone numbers, as well as credit card numbers and expiration dates.
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The breach took place on the systems of Sabre Hospitality Solutions, a reservation booking service used by Trump Hotels, but did not compromise the Trump Hotels’ systems.
Several important issues surround the breach, not least of which is that this is not the first time. A prior event also came with a wrist slap for tardy notification.
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The news of the latest cybersecurity attack comes less than a year after Trump International Hotels Management paid $50,000 in penalties to New York state for failing to notify customers immediately after earlier data breaches led to the exposure of more than 70,000 credit card numbers and 300 Social Security numbers.
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“Why are hackers targeting hotels? Well, because they’re a good target,” said Peter W. Singer, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation, a centrist think tank. “Then you look at Trump’s hotels, and they’re obviously a highly symbolic target.”
So, if current events in North Korea, pre-election Russian relations, and a stressed out cabinet are not enough, that plush bed in Franklin suite at the new DC Trump hotel which costs $5,715 per night (…plus, of course taxes and fees), might cost you more than money. It might be privacy and risk for your American Express Black Card or Chase Preferred Reserve!
Overview by Brian Riley, Director, Credit Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
Read the full story here