Evan Hotels Victimized through Security Breach

Timesofsandiego.com reported on 8th July, 2015 stating that popular Evan Hotels, operator of three hotels at San Diego, recently announced that a security breach has led to unauthorized charges on payment cards and advised guests to review their accounts for the affected time period.

Evan Hotels, which owns and operates the Catamaran Resort, Bahia Resort and The Lodge at Torrey Pines, received calls in February 2015 from confused guests following which it started a probe.

It (Evans Hotels) investigated and found that backup card readers, which do not encrypt card data at the time of swiping cards, were being used in addition to its current system during check-in of large groups. Many years ago, Evans Hotels started using card readers which encrypt payment card data when the card is swiped and the older card readers were kept as a backup for IT disaster recovery purposes.

During the process of investigation, it was found that malware had been installed on the computers at the front desks of properties of Evans Hotels which could have captured data from cards which were swiped using the backup readers between September 2014 and 5th March, 2015.

The information which might have been affected contained the name of the cardholder, account number, expiry date and verification code.

The company announced that it is not able to identify the guests who might have been affected and hence it advises all guests who used their cards at its properties during the above mentioned time period (September 2014 and 5th March, 2015) should check their accounts for unauthorized uses.

Evan Hotel released an official statement saying that in order to ensure that this does not happen again, it not only removed the backup readers from its properties but it is also working with a security firm for computers to implement additional better security measures. Payment system of Evans Hotel has been completely remediated and you can now use your card confidently and safely at all properties of Evans Hotels.

Officials of the hotel said that Evans Hotels regrets for any inconvenience or concern caused due to this and if guests have any questions about this incident, please feel free to call us.

» SPAMfighter News - 7/23/2015