At the Motel One hotel chain, hackers stole data containing private information from guests on a large scale and published it on the dark web.
“According to preliminary findings, the stolen data amounting to six terabytes relates in particular to address and billing data of customers and only very occasionally credit card information of our hotel guests,” said a spokeswoman for the company when asked in Munich. The “Süddeutsche Zeitung” had previously reported that the data had already been published on the darknet on Wednesday.
The Darknet or Darkweb is a hidden network, i.e. closed websites that can only be found via a specific browser.
Security at risk?
Motel One (Munich) had already reported on the hacker attack on September 30th on the X platform, formerly Twitter. The company said it filed a criminal complaint and also informed the data protection authorities. In addition, it was immediately ensured that no further personal data could be obtained. Affected credit card holders were personally informed.
Motel One referred to comprehensive, standard security standards. The fact that the hacker attack was nevertheless successful shows the group’s high criminal energy. Guests do not have to worry about their safety, said a spokeswoman. Motel One works closely with experienced experts in information and IT security and the responsible authorities.
According to the newspaper, so-called emergency lists were also affected. They included guests’ names, check-in dates and room numbers, Motel One said. With this information, guests could, for example, check in even in the event of system malfunctions.
Motel One turns to government
The founder and co-owner of Motel One, Dieter Müller, appealed to the federal government: “I think that, in addition to the companies themselves, the state is called upon to regain sovereignty and significantly upgrade cyber defense.” Müller may have been a victim of the data theft himself. “Since Dieter Müller likes to stay at Motel One, this may be the case,” said the spokeswoman.
According to its own information, Motel One currently operates 90 hotels in 13 countries in Europe and the USA. After heavy losses during the Corona pandemic despite government Corona aid, things looked up again in 2022. After a net loss of more than seven million euros in 2021, the group ended up back in the black last year with a profit of 78 million euros and almost halved the debt level from 197 to 99 million euros.
