Booking.com Suffers Data Breach Affecting Customer Booking Information
The accommodation reservation platform Booking.com has experienced a data breach in which unauthorised parties gained access to customer booking details.
The company discovered “suspicious activity involving unauthorised third parties being able to access some of our guests’ booking information” and immediately took steps to contain the incident. According to Booking.com’s statement, “We have updated the pin number for these reservations and informed our guests.”
Based in Amsterdam, Booking.com operates a platform connecting millions of travellers with over 30 million accommodation venues worldwide, along with transport and experience bookings. However, the company has not disclosed the exact number of customers affected by the breach.
What Information Was Compromised?
According to notifications sent to affected customers, unauthorised parties may have accessed “certain booking information” from previous reservations. The potentially compromised data includes:
- Booking details
- Names and email addresses
- Phone numbers
- Physical addresses
- Information shared with accommodation providers
Booking.com confirmed that financial information was not accessed during the breach.
A Pattern of Security Challenges
This incident is not the first cybersecurity issue to affect the platform. In 2018, criminals used phishing tactics to compromise hotel employee login credentials in the United Arab Emirates, subsequently gaining access to booking data for over 4,000 users. That breach resulted in a €475,000 fine from Dutch privacy regulators after Booking.com failed to report the incident within the required timeframe.
Beyond data breaches, Booking.com has also grappled with rising numbers of online scams on its platform, where fraudsters request payment details under the guise of pre-authorisation or verification, then charge substantially higher amounts.
About Booking Holdings
Booking.com is owned by Booking Holdings, a $137 billion US-based company headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut. The parent company also owns OpenTable, Agoda, and Kayak, and employs more than 24,000 people globally.