Join +750K new investors every month who copy stock picks from billionaire's portfoliosSign Up Free

Marriott CEO to testify before U.S. Senate panel on data breach

Published 04/03/2019, 22:31
© Reuters. Sorenson speaks during an interview with Reuters in a hotel in Berlin
EFX
-

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Marriott International Inc Chief executive Arne Sorenson will testify before a U.S. Senate panel Thursday about a hacking incident it reported in December that exposed the records of up to 383 million customers in its Starwood hotels reservation system and 5.25 million passport numbers.

The Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations is holding a hearing "to examine the causes and scope of private sector data breaches that expose the most sensitive information of millions of Americans."

The hearing will also include Equifax Inc (NYSE:EFX) Chief Executive Mark Begor, who will discuss the company's 2017 disclosure of the hacking of sensitive data of about 148 million people. That massive breach sparked calls for changes by Congress to the credit reporting agencies' handling of data.

Marriott disclosed on Nov. 30 that it had discovered its Starwood hotels reservation database had been hacked over a four-year period in one of the largest breaches in history. At least five U.S. states and the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office are investigating the attack.

A company spokeswoman confirmed Sorenson would testify but declined to comment further.

Marriott also said that it had completed an effort to phase out the Starwood reservations database that it acquired in September 2016 with its $13.6 billion purchase of Starwood. The hack began in 2014, a year before Marriott offered to buy Starwood.

The company initially said records of up to 500 million guests were involved and then revised its estimate to up to 383 million in January.

The hotel operator also said that some 25.55 million passport numbers were stolen in the attack on the Starwood Hotels reservation system, 5.25 million of which were stored in plain text. Another 8.6 million encrypted payment cards were also taken in the attack, it said.

The Senate panel will also hear from the Federal Trade Commission's director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection and others "to focus on policies Congress could consider in order to help prevent future cyberattacks and data breaches."

The committee also plans to release a report on Equifax "detailing the repeated failures over the years on the part of Equifax that led to the devastating breach in 2017."

© Reuters. Sorenson speaks during an interview with Reuters in a hotel in Berlin

Marriott said last week that in the fourth quarter of 2018 it had incurred $28 million in expenses and recognised $25 million (19 million pounds) of insurance proceeds related to the data security incident.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.