Marriott Starwood Security Breach

Marriott announced this morning that a security breach has occurred with the Marriott Starwood guest reservation system where unauthorized access was gained to approximately 500 million customer’s information. The data breach could impact guest’s personal information, including name, mailing address, date of birth, email address and credit card numbers and expiration date, going back to 2014. The worldwide hotels involved in the data breach includes the St. Regis, Westin, Sheraton and W Hotels.



Though AmTrust Financial as a company is in no way affiliated with Marriott Starwood or the breach, we wanted to give our agents and policyholders access to this pertinent information.

Actions to Take After Marriott Starwood Security Breach

For anyone who may have made reservations with Marriott Starwood take the following actions:

• Change your password for the Starwood’s rewards program on the Marriott reservation site.
• If you utilize that same password anywhere else, change all your other passwords immediately. Consider implementing two-factor authentication on all of your sites as the cybercriminals may attempt credential stuffing, or gaining access to other sites using the same user name and password, to gain additional information.
• Monitor your credit for any fraudulent actions that may be taken as well as any unusual charges on your credit card.

Please take these necessary steps immediately to ensure the safety and security of your accounts and personal information. Validating charges on your card should not be a one-time event as compromised cards could be used at a later date for fraudulent charges.

Report Unauthorized Activity Immediately

Agents or policyholders who suspect unauthorized activity on their credit/debit card statements should contact their related financial institution immediately. More information regarding this breach can also be found here.

For additional tips on dealing with identity theft visit the Federal Trade Commission’s website.