Warning to holiday makers as Booking.com hack exposes customer data

Undisclosed number of names and contact and reservation details accessed in latest cybercrime attempt.

The accommodation reservation website Booking.com has suffered a data breach with “unauthorised parties” gaining access to customers’ details.

The platform said it “noticed some suspicious activity involving unauthorised third parties being able to access some of our guests’ booking information”.

“Upon discovering the activity, we took action to contain the issue,” it said. “We have updated the pin number for these reservations and informed our guests.” The company, which is headquartered in Amsterdam, lists more than 30m accommodation venues around the world and says it connects “millions of travellers” with experiences, transport and places to stay.

Booking.com declined to say how many people the hack had affected. A spokesperson said that “financial information was not accessed”.

An email from the company to affected customers said the hackers may have been able to access “certain booking information” associated with a previous reservation the customer made.

“Based on the findings of our investigation to date, accessed information could include booking details and names, emails, addresses, phone numbers associated with the booking and anything that you may have shared with the accommodation,” it said.

It is the latest in a series of cybercrime attempts on Booking.com. The company has recently struggled with the rising number of online scams on its platform, with fraudsters asking for payment details to pre-authorise or verify before a trip, and then charging high amounts.

In 2018, criminals used phishing tactics to steal login details from hotel employees in the United Arab Emirates, and were then able to gain access to the booking data of more than 4,000 people on the platform.

Booking.com reported the breach to the Dutch privacy regulator 22 days late, resulting in a fine of €475,000.

The wider industry is also facing calls to crack down on the proliferation of fake listings on booking websites.

Booking.com is owned by Booking Holdings, the $137bn US company that also owns OpenTable, Agoda and Kayak. The group is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, and employs more than 24,000 people around the world.

The Guardian