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Suspicious Activities on Hotels.com User Accounts

2017-06-01/3 Comments/in Hack/by Kellep Charles

I recently received an email from Hotels.com stating an unauthorized user may have accessed user’s accounts and are urging customers to change their password. Read the actual email below. “We are writing to make you aware of recent activity involving Hotels.com accounts that leads us to believe that some of your personal information, including your […]

Kmart Stores Battling Malware-Based Security Breach of its Store Credit Card Processing Systems. Again…

2017-06-01/1 Comment/in Hack/by Kellep Charles

An article by Brian Krebs from KrebsonSecurity.com: For the second time in less than three years, Kmart Stores is battling a malware-based security breach of its store credit card processing systems. Last week I began hearing from smaller banks and credit unions who said they strongly suspected another card breach at Kmart. Some of those institutions received […]

Suspicious Activities on Hotels.com User Accounts

2017-06-01/3 Comments/in Hack/by Kellep Charles

Kmart Stores Battling Malware-Based Security Breach of its Store Credit Card Processing Systems. Again…

2017-06-01/1 Comment/in Hack/by Kellep Charles

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Suspicious Activities on Hotels.com User Accounts

2017-06-01/3 Comments/in Hack/by Kellep Charles

I recently received an email from Hotels.com stating an unauthorized user may have accessed user’s accounts and are urging customers to change their password. Read the actual email below.

“We are writing to make you aware of recent activity involving Hotels.com accounts that leads us to believe that some of your personal information, including your reward nights, may have been accessed by an unauthorized user. However, rest assured that your full credit card information was not compromised on our website.

On May 22-29, 2017, we detected unusual user activity with a number of accounts, including yours, which we believe resulted from an unauthorized user accessing the accounts using customers’ usernames and passwords. The accessed data could have included your name, address, e-mail address, hotel booking history, reward nights, and the last four digits of your stored credit card—but only if a user selected the option to save credit card numbers.

If we’re able to verify that free nights were recently removed from your account without your authorization, we will quickly restore those nights.

We are taking steps to ensure the continued security of your data, including resetting all compromised passwords. When you attempt to log in to your account, you will receive a message that will provide you with instructions on how to change your password.

The following are tips on how better to protect your account:

To reset your password, click the “forgot your password” link and follow the instructions on the screen.
Because an unauthorized user accessed your account using your username and password, we recommend that you create an entirely different password and one that is not shared with any other online service. Strong passwords are at least eight characters long, and contain upper and lowercase letters, plus numbers and symbols.
Verify your account details are correct by validating your e-mail address, and other account information. If you notice anything unusual with your account details, please contact us.

The security of our customers’ account information is of the utmost importance to us, and we apologize for any inconvenience this issue may cause you. If you have questions, please feel free to contact Hotels.com at 800-246-8357. Please note that our Customer Service agents will not be able to assist you with changing your password—only you can change your password online.

Sincerely,
Hotels.com Customer Support”

Kmart Stores Battling Malware-Based Security Breach of its Store Credit Card Processing Systems. Again…

2017-06-01/1 Comment/in Hack/by Kellep Charles

An article by Brian Krebs from KrebsonSecurity.com:

For the second time in less than three years, Kmart Stores is battling a malware-based security breach of its store credit card processing systems.

Last week I began hearing from smaller banks and credit unions who said they strongly suspected another card breach at Kmart. Some of those institutions received alerts from the credit card companies about batches of stolen cards that all had one thing in common: They were all used at Kmart locations.

Asked to respond to rumors about a card breach, Kmart’s parent company Sears Holdings said some of its payment systems were infected with malicious software:

“We recently became aware that Sears Holdings was a victim of a security incident involving unauthorized credit card activity following certain customer purchases at some of our Kmart stores. We immediately launched a thorough investigation and engaged leading third party forensic experts to review our systems and secure the affected part of our network.”

“Our Kmart store payment data systems were infected with a form of malicious code that was undetectable by current anti-virus systems and application controls. Once aware of the new malicious code, we quickly removed it and contained the event. We are confident that our customers can safely use their credit and debit cards in our retail stores.”

Based on the forensic investigation, NO PERSONAL identifying information (including names, addresses, social security numbers, and email addresses) was obtained by those criminally responsible. However, we believe certain credit card numbers have been compromised. Nevertheless, in light of our EMV compliant point of sale systems, which rolled out last year, we believe the exposure to cardholder data that can be used to create counterfeit cards is limited. There is also no evidence that kmart.com or Sears customers were impacted.”

Sears spokesman Chris Brathwaite said the company is not commenting on how many of Kmart’s 735 locations nationwide may have been impacted or how long the breach is believed to have persisted, saying the investigation is ongoing.

Read the rest here.