The MGM Resorts hotel chain suffered a data leak in which its guests' private information was stolen and posted to a hacker forum this week. Altogether more than 10.6 million people had data such as name, phone number, home address, e-mail and date of birth disclosed. In addition to ordinary guests, singer Justin Bieber, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and several people who work for large technology companies and governments are among the victims, as it is a chain of luxury hotels.
READ: McDonalds: error in the system left snacks for free; Look
The information was released by the portal ZDNet, last wednesday (19). MGM confirmed the leak to the site and explained that the case occurred in the last year on a server with limited data. Therefore, the company believes that financial information, credit cards or passwords have not been disclosed. Although it was discovered last year, only this week the data was posted to an online hacking forum.
Justin Bieber and other important figures had data leaked from the MGM hotel Photo: Reproduo / Instagram
Want to buy cell phones, TV and other discounted products? Meet Compare dnetc.
O ZDNet verified the authenticity of the data together with a security researcher from the company Under the Breach. According to the portal, the information referred to 10,683,188 guests and included personal data, such as full name, telephone, address, e-mail and birthday.
According to MGM Resorts, the leak was due to unauthorized access to a server in the cloud that contained information about former guests. As a result, the data released were from people who stayed at a chain hotel before 2017. The company also said it discovered the leak last year and that all affected people were warned of the problem. At the time, two cybersecurity companies were hired to do an internal investigation. In addition, the resort chain has stressed that it takes the responsibility to protect its guests' data very seriously.
See also: five tips for using WhatsApp safely
WhatsApp: five tips for using the app safely
MGM is a company from Las Vegas, in the United States, which operates luxury hotels in several places around the world. While there is no indication that criminals have used this information, data leakage is dangerous because it can open loopholes for thefts and scams. Criminals and malicious people can apply phishing attempts by email or text message, causing the user to click on a link that infects the device and sends sensitive information to another person. In addition, victims run the risk that third parties will impersonate them and gain access to bank accounts or other means of payment that provide economic benefits.
