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Best Western Hack Worst Exaggeration In History?
SecurityProNews
Staff Writer
2008-08-25
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Best Western says rumors of its pwning are greatly exaggerated. That's likely true, given the heaps of superlatives weighting down a Sunday Herald exclusive claiming an Indian hacker helped the Russian cyber mafia make off with $5 billion of guest money. We're guessing the hacker didn't get nearly a fair enough cut.
 | | Best Western Hack Worst Exaggeration In History? |  |
The biggest, greatest heist in cyber crime world history, affecting 8 million European guests (every single customer, writes Iain S Bruce) at any of Best Western's 1312 continental locations, was pulled off thanks to an Indian newbie hacker, who sold access to the world's largest hotel chain's online booking system.
This "most audacious" hack, a "master stroke" so rare because of the sheer volume, means the Russian mafia, who bought access via an underground website, were immediately embarking on a widespread European crime wave with Best Western customer credit cards. Good luck in finding them; the cyber-Ruskies are generally untraceable, except by reporters monitoring secret underground websites.
Security experts, says the Bruce, fear the worst, which includes high-price purchases, applications for loans and credit, and sales of burglary packs due to the advance knowledge of when guests would be out of town.
Google News brings back almost 200 stories reporting Sunday Herald's falling sky, which is likely the reason Best Western had to respond with the utmost urgency and care. Best Western had some largess language of its own for Bruce's claims in the Glasgow paper: grossly unsubstantiated.
The hotel chain characterizes the greatest cyber heist in world history as "the possible compromise of a select portion of data at a single hotel, promptly corrected when Sunday Herald told them about it. Best Western, being in the hotel business and not understanding how journalism is done, bemoans that Bruce didn't accept their offer of fact-checking before publication.
As for the claim that guests dating back to 2007 were affected, Best Western says it is company policy to purge online reservations upon guest departure, and its system is in compliance with Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards (DSS).
About the Author:
SecurityProNews is a daily online and email publication focusing on internet security issues.
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