Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide has become the latest victim of a malware attack which has targeted its point of sale systems.
The company said that payment systems belonging to 54 hotels in North America were infected by the malware which was designed to gather cardholder names, payment card numbers, security codes and expiration dates.
However, Starwood highlighted that customer information like contact information or PINs were unaffected by this issue.
Starwood said that it has taken steps to protect customer payment card information and the malware is no longer a threat to customers.
Starwood president Sergio Rivera said: "Quickly after we became aware of the possible issue, we took prompt action to determine the facts.
"We have been working closely with law enforcement authorities and have been coordinating our efforts with the payment card organizations. We want to assure our customers that we have implemented additional security measures to help prevent this type of crime from reoccurring."
The company got the details about the exploit through a third-party investigation which revealed that the malware had affected certain restaurants, gift shops and other point of sale systems at Starwood properties including Sheraton, Westin and W.
Some of the affected hotels include the Sheraton New York Times Square hotel, the Westin New York Grand Central New York, Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa Maui and The St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort in Florida.
Following the incident, Hilton hotels and Trump Hotel Collection are also investigating possible card fraud at some of their hotels, reported Reuters.
