Marriott announced in a press release this weekend about a security breach that could have affected more than 500 million guests that have stayed at a Starwood Property

On September 8, 2018, Marriott received an alert from an internal security tool regarding an attempt to access the Starwood guest reservation database in the United States. After an investigation the Hotel company learned an, “unauthorized party had copied and encrypted information, and took steps towards removing it.”

While the investigation is still ongoing as of November 30, it is believed that the copied information of approximately 500 million guests who made a reservation at a Starwood property. Of the 500 million guests it is believed that 327 million had more significant information copied.

“The information includes some combination of name, mailing address, phone number, email address, passport number, Starwood Preferred Guest (“SPG”) account information, date of birth, gender, arrival and departure information, reservation date, and communication preferences,” says the press release.

Marriott reported this incident to law enforcement and continues to support their investigation.  The company has already begun notifying regulatory authorities.

“We deeply regret this incident happened,” said Arne Sorenson, Marriott’s President and Chief Executive Officer.  “We fell short of what our guests deserve and what we expect of ourselves.  We are doing everything we can to support our guests, and using lessons learned to be better moving forward.”

Marriott is offering a free “WebWatcher Enrollment” for anyone interested in having their information monitored. Other resources as well as the full press release can be found here.