InterContinental Hotels Cyber Attack

Did you stay in the following hotels recently (or since 2016)?

Regent, InterContinental Hotels and Resorts, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Candlewood Suites, Atwell Suites, and Even Hotels?

If yes, then read this post a little bit carefully.

The IT systems of InterContinental Hotels Group which operates 17 hotel brands globally, is compromised.

Not a good news just after the holiday season but you cannot escape from the realities.

And this has been the 3rd time that this hotels group was compromised. (Cyber defense actions are needed.)

And maybe you will think twice before booking a hotel room online after having read the news below.

https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/06/ihg_hotels_data_breach/

"The IT systems of InterContinental Hotels Group, the massive hospitality organization that operates 17 hotel brands around the world, have been compromised, causing ongoing disruption to the corporation's online booking systems and other services.

IHG, which is headquartered in Denham, England, and has offices in Atlanta, Singapore, and Shanghai, said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange Tuesday that 'parts [of its] technology systems have been subject to unauthorised activity.'"

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/IHG/unauthorised-access-to-technology-systems/15617013?s=31

"Attempts by The Register to book a room online via the IHG website were unsuccessful, as we repeatedly ran into a message saying the requested page was unresponsive. Clicking on links to other pages on the site were met with the same message, though some pages popped up after a few minutes of delay.

The company put a message to guests at the top of the home page informing them that 'at this time, you may have challenges booking a new reservation, accessing information about your upcoming reservations and accessing your IHG One Rewards account.'"

"IHG is a massive operation, running 6,028 hotels and 882,897 rooms in more than 100 countries. It has about 325,000 employees and included in its brands are Regent, InterContinental Hotels and Resorts, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express, Candlewood Suites, Atwell Suites, and Even Hotels."

"This isn't the first time IHG has been hit by a cyberattack. A network security breach in 2016 impacted the company for about three months, with IHG officials admitting in April 2017 that 1,200 hotels were affected by the intrusion. In that snafu, attackers deployed malware that accessed payment card data that was then used make fraudulent payments with cloned cards."

"Marriott Hotels in July said it had been hit by a third cyberattack in four years, with miscreants making off with 20GB of data, including credit card information and internal company documents."