The news on the hacker attack on Booking is not yet entirely clear. Or rather, following the company’s declarations, it is difficult to find one clear reconstruction of what happened to the platform. The news leaked later on the subreddit r/Bookingcom a user posted one email received from the platform. We read: “Unauthorized third parties may have had access to certain information associated with your bookingAnd then there is the list of data that have been put at risk: name, email, address, telephone number and any other information that has been shared together with the booking.
Below this post there are dozens of comments. Several users say they have received the same email. And even something more. There are users who say they have received emails and messages from phishingor at least suspicious. We remember it: for phishing we mean all that series of practices that serve to mask a person’s identity. Reports show one sophisticated scheme.
Reddit user EnutniSDM he explained that he had been contacted by an account WhatsApp Business who asked him to confirm his payment details. Obviously it was a scam message, even if well done. The scammer had all the victim’s information in his hands: name, telephone number, email, Booking ID code and obviously all the data of reservation made on Booking.
Booking hacked, notice to users: “Possible violation of personal data”
Booking’s responses to the hacker attack
In addition to the information sent to users involved with the data breachthe company did not add much information. Contacted by the magazine specialized in technology Tech Cruncha spokesperson for Booking explained: “We noticed some suspicious activity involving unauthorized third parties able to access some of our guests’ booking information. Once we discovered the activity, we took steps to contain the issue.”
It is therefore unclear whether the attack directly violated the Booking systems (more difficult) or some supplier or hotel chain which relies on Booking for reservations (most likely). And of course The extent of the damage is unknown. No information was released on the number of users involved or the hotel chains involved in the data breach.
The problem of phishing emails
If you have recently used Booking.com, we leave you with two pieces of advice:
- Check in your email inbox if there are communications from Booking. At the moment no cases have been recorded in Italy
- In the next few days monitor WhatsApp and emails: if you find messages requesting new data or banking information, check carefully. If in doubt, call the property where you booked directly to confirm the origin of the message.
