Guests at more than 250 Hyatt hotels were targeted by malware

If you stayed in a Hyatt hotel between August and December of last year, you should check your credit card statement for unusual charges.

The Chicago-based hotel giant said that its guests were the target of a cyberattack and now the hotel company has unveiled the list of more than 250 hotels worldwide, including more than 100 in the U.S., that were targeted. Hyatt’s chain includes more than 600 hotels.

Hilton Worldwide and Starwood Hotels & Resorts were also struck by cyberattacks last year.

In California, the hackers had access to credit card information from 21 Hyatt hotels, including the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles, the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach, the Hyatt Regency Orange County and the Hyatt Regency Long Beach. For a list of the hotels targeted by the attack, go to www.hyatt.com/protectingourcustomers/hotellist/.

An investigation by Hyatt found unauthorized access to credit card data from cards used primarily at restaurants of the more than 250 Hyatt hotels between Aug. 13 and Dec. 8 of last year. A small percentage of the cards that were accessed were also used for parking and at spas, golf shops and front desks.

Hyatt said it will provide its guests who may have been a victim of the cyberattack with one year of identification protection service from Austin, Texas-company CSIdentity. To sign up, Hyatt customers need to visit the website www.csid.com/hyatt-us.

In a memo to guests, Hyatt’s global president of operations, Chuck Floyd, said the hotel company has strengthened its security system to prevent future problems.

“Please be assured that you can confidently use payment cards at Hyatt hotels worldwide,” he said.

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