Ransomware

Motel One Discloses Ransomware Attack Impacting Customer Data

Motel One says customer addresses and credit card information were compromised in a recent ransomware attack.

Ionut Arghire

Published

October 3, 2023

Motel One says customer addresses and credit card information were compromised in a recent ransomware attack.

Budget hotel chain Motel One Group on Monday confirmed that some customer information and credit card data was stolen in a recent ransomware attack.

The hackers gained access to the hotel operator’s internal systems and attempted to deploy file-encrypting ransomware, but were only partially successful, the company claims.

“Thanks to extensive measures, the impact was kept to a relative minimum. The business operation of one of Europe’s largest hotel groups was never at risk,” Motel One Group says in its incident notification.

The company says it immediately engaged a certified IT security service provider and alerted the relevant authorities to start investigating the incident.

According to the hotel chain’s initial assessment, the attackers accessed information related to customers’ addresses, along with “150 credit card details”.

“The affected card holders have already been informed personally,” Motel One Group says.

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While the company did not name the hackers, the AlphV/Black Cat ransomware gang over the weekend claimed responsibility for the attack, adding Motel One to its leaks site.

The attackers claim to have exfiltrated roughly 6TB of data from the company, including booking details for the past three years, customer contact information, and credit card data, along with internal Motel One documents.

The ransomware gang has threatened to release the stolen data unless Motel One engages in negotiations and pays a ransom.

Headquartered in Munich, Germany, Motel One Group operates 90 hotels in 13 countries, including Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, UK, and US.

SecurityWeek has emailed Motel One for an official statement on the AlphV/Black Cat ransomware gang’s claims and for additional information on the attack and will update this article as soon as a reply arrives.