Fergie's Tech Blog

Destination Hotels Card-Processing System Hacked

Robert McMillan writes on ComputerWorld:

Hackers have broken into the payment processing system of Destination Hotels & Resorts, a high-end chain best known for its resort hotels in destinations such as Vail, Colorado; Lake Tahoe, California; and Maui, Hawaii.

Guests who recently stayed at 21 of the resort's 30 hotels may have been victimized by the scheme, which appears to have compromised point-of-sale systems. The company refused to release many details of the incident -- citing an ongoing investigation by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation -- but in a note posted to its Web site said that it had "uncovered a malicious software program inserted into its credit card processing system from a remote source."

Destination Hotels is in the process of notifying victims but will not say how many people have had their credit card numbers stolen, a company spokeswoman said.

However, the attackers appear to have hit only point-of-sale processing systems, where credit cards are swiped for purchases. Personal information such as guests' home addresses was not compromised, the company said.

posted by Fergie @ 6/29/2010 10:47:00 PM