Memory Scraping Point-of-Sale Malware Infects Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas…Again.
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas said on Monday that hackers managed to access customer payment card data through card scraping malware installed on systems running the resort’s payment card system.
The gaming resort said it was was tipped off after receiving reports of fraudulent activity associated with payment cards used at its Las Vegas location.
After hiring an un-named cybersecurity firm to investigate the breach, it was determined in May that hackers managed to access to the resort’s payment card environment.
“Further investigation revealed the presence of card scraping malware that was designed to target payment card data as the data was routed through the resort’s payment card system,” Hard Rock noted in a data breach notice.
The gaming company warned that cards used at restaurant and retail outlets at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas between October 27, 2015 and March 21, 2016, could be exposed.
In some transactions, the PoS malware was able to capture payment card data including cardholder name, card number, expiration date, and internal verification code. However, the investigation found that in some cases cardholder name was not captured.
The company did not provide any additional details on the type of malware found on its systems.
As would be expected, the company said that both law enforcement officials and payment card networks have been informed of the incident.
The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino warned of a similar incident last year. In May 2015, the company said that a malware attack exposed transactions that occured between Sept. 3, 2014 and April 2, 2015, at the company’s restaurant, bar and retail locations.
The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino is located on 26 acres in Las Vegas and includes numerous shops and restaurants, along with more than 1500 guest rooms.
While news of “mega breaches” of payment card data seem to have slowed over the past months, attacks targeting payment card data continue to make headlines.
Many hotel chains reported being targeted by cybercriminals last year, including Hyatt Hotels, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, White Lodging Services, Hilton and Starwood Hotels. Hyatt reported in mid-January that 250 of its hotels from all over the world had been affected by a breach. This spring, the Trump Hotel Collection was hit by malware targeting payment card data.
Earlier this month fast food restaurant chain Wendy’s informed customers that the number of locations where cybercriminals compromised point-of-sale (PoS) systems is much higher than initially estimated.
More than a dozen new PoS malware families were discovered by researchers last year, including NitlovePoS, PoSeidon, MWZLesson, MalumPOS, Cherry Picker and AbaddonPOS.
