Comments on: Best Western responds to those hack claims http://www.completetosh.com/weblog/2008/08/25/best_western_respond/ by Neil McIntosh Sun, 08 Aug 2010 00:08:23 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: wendy mellon http://www.completetosh.com/weblog/2008/08/25/best_western_respond/comment-page-1/#comment-38578 wendy mellon Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:21:42 +0000 http://www.completetosh.com/?p=831#comment-38578 Knew nothing about this until an email arrived from Best Western. I then searched the net thingking it might be a scam as no logo etc came with the email. Here is a copy Dear James You may be aware on Sunday 24th August the Scottish Herald printed a story claiming a hacker had gained access to Best Western guest information. This story is grossly unsubstantiated! After a detailed investigation we can confirm that on 21st August a single hotel in Germany was compromised by a virus. The compromise permitted access to reservations data for that property only. This has affected only ten customers who we are currently being contacted to offer our assistance, none of these were GB customers. There is no evidence of any unauthorized access to any other customer data. Most importantly Best Western purges all reservations data within seven days of guest departure. We are working with the FBI and other international authorities to investigate further. At Best Western we take the confidentiality of our customers' personal information very seriously, complying with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards (DSS). To maintain that compliance, Best Western maintains a secure network protected by firewalls and governed by a strong information security policy. We regularly test our systems and processes in an effort to protect customer information, and employ the services of industry-leading third-party firms to evaluate our safeguards. Yours sincerely, David Clarke CEO Best Western Hotels GB We are sending you this email because you have recently made a booking with Best Western Hotels and given us your email address. To unsubscribe please visit http://online.bestwestern.co.uk/?W47V.WC5l6SRNFF8oSRt5jDW2pJKLdiSW Best Western is the international trading name of Interchange and Consort Hotels Limited. Registered office: Consort House, Amy Johnson Way, Clifton Moor, York YO30 4GP. Registered No: 1002192 England. Knew nothing about this until an email arrived from Best Western. I then searched the net thingking it might be a scam as no logo etc came with the email. Here is a copy
Dear James

You may be aware on Sunday 24th August the Scottish Herald printed a story claiming a hacker had gained access to Best Western guest information. This story is grossly unsubstantiated!

After a detailed investigation we can confirm that on 21st August a single hotel in Germany was compromised by a virus. The compromise permitted access to reservations data for that property only. This has affected only ten customers who we are currently being contacted to offer our assistance, none of these were GB customers. There is no evidence of any unauthorized access to any other customer data. Most importantly Best Western purges all reservations data within seven days of guest departure.

We are working with the FBI and other international authorities to investigate further.

At Best Western we take the confidentiality of our customers’ personal information very seriously,
complying with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards (DSS). To maintain that compliance, Best Western maintains a secure network protected by firewalls and governed by a strong information security policy. We regularly test our systems and processes in an effort to protect customer information, and employ the services of industry-leading third-party firms to evaluate our safeguards.

Yours sincerely,

David Clarke CEO

Best Western Hotels GB

We are sending you this email because you have recently made a booking with Best Western Hotels and given us your email address.
To unsubscribe please visit http://online.bestwestern.co.u.....W2pJKLdiSW

Best Western is the international trading name of Interchange and Consort Hotels Limited.
Registered office: Consort House, Amy Johnson Way, Clifton Moor, York YO30 4GP. Registered No: 1002192 England.

]]> By: Craig McGill http://www.completetosh.com/weblog/2008/08/25/best_western_respond/comment-page-1/#comment-38569 Craig McGill Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:01:47 +0000 http://www.completetosh.com/?p=831#comment-38569 http://www.itwire.com/content/view/20249/53/ Iain seems to be on the counter-offensive... http://www.itwire.com/content/view/20249/53/

Iain seems to be on the counter-offensive…

]]> By: Jim Hughes http://www.completetosh.com/weblog/2008/08/25/best_western_respond/comment-page-1/#comment-38473 Jim Hughes Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:01:28 +0000 http://www.completetosh.com/?p=831#comment-38473 Have emailed Best Western to inquire if my credit card details are secure.As a customer I think they are obliged to reply with a firm YES or NO. Perhaps anyone who has stayed a Best Westen Hotel in the past year should do the same??? Have emailed Best Western to inquire if my credit card details are secure.As a customer I think they are obliged to reply with a firm YES or NO.
Perhaps anyone who has stayed a Best Westen Hotel in the past year should do the same???

]]> By: Benjamin Wright http://www.completetosh.com/weblog/2008/08/25/best_western_respond/comment-page-1/#comment-38396 Benjamin Wright Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:46:04 +0000 http://www.completetosh.com/?p=831#comment-38396 Neil: Best Western now says only a handful of records were compromised, not millions. Data security investigations are complex, and they require patience. As we learned from the TJX experience, it is easy for the press and for authorities to over-react. --Ben <a href="http://legal-beagle.typepad.com/wrights_legal_beagle/2008/08/credit-card-iss.html" rel="nofollow">http://legal-beagle.typepad.com/wrights_legal_beagle/2008/08/credit-card-iss.html</a> Neil: Best Western now says only a handful of records were compromised, not millions. Data security investigations are complex, and they require patience. As we learned from the TJX experience, it is easy for the press and for authorities to over-react. –Ben http://legal-beagle.typepad.co.....d-iss.html

]]> By: Best Western hacked - 8m people should be nervous | Completetosh.com, by Neil McIntosh http://www.completetosh.com/weblog/2008/08/25/best_western_respond/comment-page-1/#comment-38310 Best Western hacked - 8m people should be nervous | Completetosh.com, by Neil McIntosh Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:10:38 +0000 http://www.completetosh.com/?p=831#comment-38310 [...] [Update: Since I wrote this, Best Western has responded to the story, firmly denying the reported scale of their data loss. I've posted more on this here] [...] [...] [Update: Since I wrote this, Best Western has responded to the story, firmly denying the reported scale of their data loss. I've posted more on this here] [...]

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