Trump Hotels Face Another Possible Data Breach

The article in Fortune discusses the data breach at Trump Hotels, the second time this year its payment systems have been attacked. It is believed that hackers have stolen credit card information from customers who have stayed at Trump properties in New York, Honolulu, and Toronto. Fraudulent activities were reported to the Trump organization by three undisclosed financial institutions. The breach was believed to be related to Trump’s presidential candidacy because a hacking group “declared a ‘total war’ on Trump”(Hackett). However, this was dismissed because the hacking occurred months before this group’s attack was to take place.  Other hotels including Hilton and Hyatt were also affected. For this reason the attack seems to be financial in nature not political.

It is important to emphasize that an earlier breach had occurred in July 2015 at other Trump properties.  At that time Eric Trump led the public to believe, “the hotel organization is ‘committed to safeguard all guests personal information and will continue to do so vigilantly’” (Thadani). However, this statement is repeated again by the Trump organization when disclosing the second breach to Fortune.  It makes one believe that the organization is not vigilant in protecting costumer information. According to Al Pascual, a senior analyst for security at Javelin, “ ‘Better than half of all fraud victims are data breach victims’ ” (Weisbaum).   Credit card fraud accounts for 40% of all financial fraud  (Statistic Brain). These are amazing facts and one would think the Trump organization would take all measures to ensure that costumer’s personal data did not get compromised. By allowing this to occur for the second time showed negligence on the part of the Trump organization and a tarnishing of the brand. I believe customers planning on staying at Trump properties will now think twice, since the company was not as diligent as they should have been to prevent further breaches.

The article did not inform the reader if the breach was cause by using old technology to read credit card information. Banks that issue cards are now switching to chips instead of the magnetic strip because it is harder to hack. Retailers are having difficulty making the switch because of delays in getting the equipment up and running (Kokalitcheva). I would have liked to know if the Trump properties are still using the old swipe technology and if so are they planning on updating their systems so that this will not happen again. I also would like to know how many customers were affected by the second breach, and was it more or less than the first? Lastly, what are possible remedies companies could use to stop data breaches.

 Today everyone uses credit and debt cards and data breaches can be devastating for those whose personal information has been compromised. It is imperative that businesses become proactive in trying to stop data breaches.

Works Cited

Hackett, Robert. "Trump Hotels Face Another Possible Data Breach." Fortune Trump Hotels Face Another Possible Data Breach Comments. Fortune, 04 Apr. 2016. Web. 06 Apr. 2016. <http://fortune.com/2016/04/04/trump-hotels-data-breach-again/>.

Kokalitcheva, Kia. "Report: Trump Hotel Chain Has Credit Card Breach." Fortune Donald Trumps Hotel Chain Is Likely Victim of Credit Card Data Breach Comments. Fortune, 01 July 2015. Web. 06 Apr. 2016. <http://fortune.com/2015/07/01/donald-trump-hotel-credit-card-breach/>.

"Statistic Brain." Statistic Brain. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2016. <http://www.statisticbrain.com/credit-card-fraud-statistics/>.

Thadani, Trisha. "Trump Hotels Probes Potential Credit Card Breach." USA Today. Gannett, 01 July 2015. Web. 06 Apr. 2016. <http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/07/01/trump-hotel-breach/29576495/>.

Weisbaum, Herb. "Data Breaches Cost Consumers Billions of Dollars." TODAY.com. N.p., 05 June 2013. Web. 08 Apr. 2016. <http://www.today.com/money/data-breaches-cost-consumers-billions-dollars-6C10209538>.