Hackers target Donald Trump’s hotel chain

Hackers have targeted the Trump Hotel Collection, leading to its second data breach in less than a year. Security expert, Brian Krebs, claimed on 4 April that hotel sources had said that the chain was at the centre of a data breach and credit card fraud. The apparent ‘pattern of fraud’ that has been noted suggests that the chain may have been infected with point of sale (POS) malware. However, no representative for the chain has publicly confirmed that a cyber attack had occurred but revealed that a ‘thorough investigation’ was under way. The chain was attacked in July 2015, during which hackers targeted seven hotels, stealing data such as credit card information and security codes.

Chris Matyszczyk/CNET

Republican candidate Donald Trump's hotel chain, The Trump Hotel Collection, has become the victim of a credit card system data breach for the second time in only a year.

Trump has hit the headlines this year thanks to a string of nonsensical and controversial statements, whether it be concerning borders and walls, women or other candidates.

Trump used his stage presence recently to call the United States "obsolete" in terms of cybersecurity -- a view which flies in the face of the government, but is not completely irrelevant considering the candidate's own set of luxury hotels is reportedly grappling with a second round of data breaches which has potentially exposed client financial data.

Security expert Brian Krebs reported on Monday that according to hotel sources, Trump's luxury chain is, once again, the centre of a data breach and credit card fraud.

Players in the finance industry said they have spotted a "pattern of fraud" relating to customer credit cards, which implies the Trump Hotel Collection may once again be harbouring malware on point-of-sale (PoS) systems within some hotels, or potentially all of them.

No cyberattack has yet been confirmed, but a representative of the hotel chain said the company was conducting a "thorough investigation" of the matter.

The Trump Hotel Collection fell victim to a similar cyberattack in July 2015. Hackers targeted seven of Trump's hotels, successfully stealing sensitive information including credit card data and security codes.

While discussing cybersecurity in March this year, Trump told the New York Times, "We are frankly not being led very well in terms of the protection of this country."

Perhaps the candidate should take this lesson and apply it to his own empire with further investment and training to try and prevent a third-time-lucky cyberattack on his hotel chain.

However, this is far from the first time the service industry has been targeted for the valuable customer data stored in hotel servers. In January, Hyatt Hotels admitted that 250 hotels in 54 countries were affected by a cyberattack which targeted customer financial information.

These are the best 2016 April Fools tech pranks on the Web

Read on: Top picks