In what may be the largest hack in the travel industry to date, Marriott last week revealed that its database of Starwood customers has been compromised since 2014, exposing over 500 million user profiles to unscrupulous parties out on the web.
Though they had long been in talks, Marriott International completed its acquisition of Starwood Hotels in 2016; in only August of this year did the loyalty programs officially merge.
Marriott joins a long list of travel providers that have recently been affected by data breaches. Just earlier this month, Cathay Pacific saw the information of over nine million passengers compromised while hotel operators from Hyatt to IHG to Hilton have had their own run-ins with hackers.
What's perhaps unique about Marriott's breach is the scale on which it happened. When the news broke, analysts suggested that the hack may only be second in volume of affected consumers to the Equifax breach. That would make the hack the largest ever in the travel industry.
Skift's Deanna Ting has the scoop on what the breach will ultimately mean for those 500 million travelers.
