Marriot International, Inc., is a multinational company in the hospitality sector that franchises and manages numerous hotels and other lodging facilities. The American company was founded in 1927 by John Willard Marriot and Alice Marriot. With more than 30 brands and 7,003 properties, the company is operational in 131 countries around the world and boasts of having a massive workforce of 176,000 people. Marriot has its headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland, and in 2018, its total assets amounted to US$23.19 billion (Heiman, 2020). Marriot has cost more than $126 Million in Data Breach related cases, and this paper discusses the various breaching scandals that have affected this company.
Coble, in her article, “New Marriot Data Breach Affects 5.2 Million Guests,” she discusses the various dynamics involved in the 2020 breach. Generally, Coble discusses how Marriot reported the breach and the company’s reaction to the breach (Coble, 2020). Heiman’s article, “Marriot discloses another security breach that may impact over 5 million guests,” he analyzes the various data breached during this scandal (Heiman, 2020). Finally, Seals’ article, “Millions of Guests Impacted in Marriot Data Breach, Again,” she introduces readers to the comparisons between the two breaches (Seals, 2020).
In mid-January and February, Marriot Hotel was attacked, leading to a massive data breach. In this scandal, the attackers used third-party software to access the data. According to Marriot Management, this software is used to enhance services for the guests. By obtaining the login credentials, the cybercriminals were able to access all the data of the clients (Seals, 2020). Marriot conducted a quick investigation to establish the cause of the attack and established that two employees were targeted in the attacks. Through the systems used by these two employees, the whole hack was done.
The most affected group in this scandal are the guests who lodged rooms and acquired services in the company’s hotels. Credential information of the guests was stolen and accessed by a third party, in contrast to the privacy policy of the company (Seals, 2020). The stolen data includes; Contact details like mailing addresses, names, phone numbers, and email address. Other data sets that were accessed include, birthdays, organizations of work, point balances, pins, and passwords.
This scandal falls under the concept of breach of privacy and security protocols of clients. In this scandal, the guests’ personal information was accessed, leading. This implies that the attackers can use the accessed data to manipulate the guests or to intimidate them. Privacy of clients is a critical aspect and must be ensured by all companies.
This scandal has various implications, both at personal, company, country, and international levels. At a personal level, all the clients whose data was accessed could be manipulated using this data. This implies that they are in fear because they are not aware of the attacker’s intentions. The company may incur huge losses due to this attack, as numerous customers will flee the company in fear of privacy breaches (Heiman, 2020). At a country level, Americans are left to wonder if the various systems with access to their data are secure to guarantee them their privacy. This implies that the US companies must develop better systems that guarantee clients safety and privacy of their data. Finally, at the international level, Marriot being an international company, customers around the world have lost confidence in the company, with most companies questioning the credibility of its systems. This implies that most foreign clients are more likely to shift to other companies. Generally, most international companies have learned from Marriot’s scandal and are in pursuit of better measures to prevent similar breaches.