Analysis of the Marriott International Security Breach Incident

This discussion board post analyzes the 2018 security breach incident at Marriott International, where hackers stole data of approximately 500 million customers. The assignment discusses the implications of the breach from both the company and user perspectives, highlighting the potential exposure of credit card numbers and the resulting customer anxiety. It identifies lessons learned, such as the lack of adequate defense measures, the need for robust data security frameworks during business negotiations, and the importance of secure data storage with encryption keys and regular security audits. The post also considers the likelihood of future incidents, given a similar breach in 2017, and concludes with recommendations for the security team, including continuous monitoring of travel data, the use of encryption keys, and customer vigilance in resetting login credentials. The analysis draws from multiple research papers and provides insights for network specialists and the hotel business to minimize the chance of such attacks.

Running head: SECURITY BREACH INCIDENT ON MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL
Security Breach Incident on Marriott International
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1SECURITY BREACH INCIDENT ON MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL
Table of Contents
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................2
2. Discussion....................................................................................................................................2
2.1 Implication of Security Breach..............................................................................................2
2.2 Lessons learned from incident...............................................................................................2
2.3 Future chances of such incident.............................................................................................3
3. Conclusion...................................................................................................................................3
References........................................................................................................................................4

2SECURITY BREACH INCIDENT ON MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL
1. Introduction
The security breach incident is in relation to Marriott International. In November 2018,
the international hotel chain had faced tremendous incident of a security breach in which it was
reported that hackers had stolen data in relation to 500 million customers (Marriott discloses
massive data breach affecting up to 500 million guests, 2018). The primary intention of the
hackers were to capture the data of the hotel chain after they had acquired business sharing from
Starwood in the year 2016.
2. Discussion
2.1 Implication of Security Breach
The large form of incident based on the security breach had led to a huge impact for both
the company and the user. The officials within the company had believed the fact that credit card
number of most customers were breached. The company officials were however unsure of the
fact whether the attackers were successful in decrypting them. This had also led to tremendous
implications over the mind of customers as they were unprepared from facing such incident.
2.2 Lessons learned from incident
Based on understanding of the serious nature of the incident, some of the lessons that
could be learnt from the incident are:
1. Lack of defense measure had allowed the attackers to remain within the system after
breaching (Hammouchia et al., 2019). Encryption of credit card numbers is a major lesson that
needs to be learnt for the international hotelier business.

3SECURITY BREACH INCIDENT ON MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL
2. Data security framework should be inbuilt within the negotiations made over the
business. Scrutiny over the cyber security measures and handling capacity of data by other
companies should be properly taken care of before signing deals.
3. A proper data storage option should be adopted by the business chain. Proper
encryption keys should be present to protect the important credentials of customers (Rosner,
Urdaneta & Yepes, 2019). Security audits should be conducted on a regular basis.
2.3 Future chances of such incident
From different security reports, it has been seen that the security team within the hotelier
chain had faced a similar incident in 2017. Although the attack at that time was of less intensity,
but the attack faced in 2018 had made a tremendous impact over the reputation of the
international hotel sector (Chen & Fiscus, 2018). From the previous history records, it can be
predicted that Marriott International might face such incidents in the near future.
3. Conclusion
From the conclusions drawn over the security breach scenario over Marriott International,
some of the insights could be discussed while communicating with Network Specialists. The
security team should constantly scrutinize the travel data and important information in relation to
their credentials on a timely basis. The hackers might be able to target specific customers during
the breach and hence proper encryption keys should be used for encryption of business data.
Moreover, customers should also be vigilant in resetting their login credentials. Based on
following of such kind of actions, the possibility of such attacks could be minimized and thus
ensuring a proper security environment for the international hotel business.

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References
Chen, H. S., & Fiscus, J. (2018). The inhospitable vulnerability: A need for cybersecurity risk
assessment in the hospitality industry. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism
Technology, 9(2), 223-234.
Hammouchia, H., Cherqia, O., Mezzoura, G., Ghoghoa, M., & El Koutbib, M. (2019). Digging
Deeper into Data Breaches: An Exploratory Data Analysis of Hacking Breaches Over
Time. Procedia Computer Science, 151, 1004-1009.
Marriott discloses massive data breach affecting up to 500 million guests. (2018). Retrieved 6
January 2020, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/11/30/marriott-
discloses-massive-data-breach-impacting-million-guests/
Rosner, J., Urdaneta, C., & Yepes, M. (2019). Marriott International: Exploring and
Understanding Disruption in the Hospitality Industry in South Florida Jose
Darsin. Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 11(1), 99-117.