Ransom Attack On Motel One Hotel Chain

The Motel One hotel chain has fallen victim to a ransomware attack and is now being blackmailed into publishing customer data. The stolen data sets are also said to contain information on credit cards. Bookings that are up to three years old are probably affected.

The hacker group AlphV apparently managed to gain access to Motel One’s network and steal a lot of data. In order to prove that this is actually real customer information, some of the documents were published on the dark web. The attackers claim to have stolen almost six terabytes of data.

In total, there are said to be 23,449,137 files. Names, addresses, reservation details, contact details, and payment information are said to have been extracted from various booking confirmations in PDF and RTF format. The hackers are also said to have stolen internal documents containing sensitive information and credit card details.

Motel One has now confirmed the security incident on X and explained that customer address data was intercepted. The stolen information is said to include 150 records of credit card data. All affected people are said to have already been informed about the attack. The hotel chain emphasizes that business operations were never at risk and that investigative and data protection authorities have already been informed.

Hackers are increasing the pressure

AlphV is now giving the company five days to respond to the hackers’ demands. However, it is not known how much the masterminds behind the operation are demanding. According to the attackers, as soon as the deadline has passed without a response, a catastrophe will occur for the company. This probably means the publication of all data sets that, in addition to current bookings, also contain reservation requests up to three years old.