Lawyers for Connecticut-based HEI Hospitality (HEI Hotels & Resorts) have informed the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office that HEI discovered that a “vulnerability in an information system at certain of its hotel properties may have been exploited, and credit card information related to certain transactions occurring between March 25 and April 17, 2010 may have been compromised.”
The notification letter, sent Sept. 2, does not indicate how many customers may have had their credit card information compromised, but a number of their properties were involved.
In a letter to customers who stayed at one of its properties, the Algonquin Hotel, the firm informed customers that they believed that the point of sale system used in its restaurants, bars, and gift shops and the information management system used at check-in were illegally accessed and transactions intercepted. Customers were informed that the credit card’s number, expiration date, security code, and encoded magstripe data were at risk.
HEI owns and operates a number of hotels, including Marriott-branded hotels. Customers who stayed at these hotels were notified: Marriott Fullerton at California State University, Detroit Marriott Southfield, Renaissance Fort Lauderdale Port Everglades Hotel, Marriott Dallas/Fort Worth Hotel & Golf Club at Champions Circle and Atlanta Marriott at Norcross.
HEI also operates and independently owns certain Starwood Hotels & Resorts properties that were affected: Sheraton Crystal City Hotel, The Westin Minneapolis, The Equinox, a Luxury Collection Golf Resort & Spa, Sheraton Music City Hotel, and the Westin St. Louis Hotel.
Update: Jaikumar Vijayan of Computerworld reports that 3,400 customers were notified of the breach.