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Hilton hotels in credit-card-stealing malware infection scare

Run for the tills!

Someone has hacked the Hilton's sales registers, and made off with guests' credit-card details, it's claimed. The hotel chain confirmed today it is investigating the alleged breach of its computer security.

Investigative journo Brian Krebs says malware in point-of-sale (POS) terminals is believed to have nicked the card information, some of which is already being used to make fraudulent transactions, we're told.

Multiple sources have told Krebs that bank staff have traced the misused cards to a common source: the tills at restaurants and gift shops in various Hilton hotels around the US.

It is not clear how many accounts may have been compromised, but the malware was active from April 21 to July 27 of this year, apparently. Visa reportedly issued a security alert on the security breach back in August.

Sales terminals in Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hampton, and Waldorf Astoria hotels were also compromised, it is claimed.

A Hilton spokesperson told The Register late on Friday afternoon:

Hilton Worldwide is strongly committed to protecting our customers' credit card information. We have many systems in place and work with some of the top experts in the field to address data security. Unfortunately the possibility of fraudulent credit card activity is all too common for every company in today's marketplace. We take any potential issue very seriously, and we are looking into this matter.

If Krebs' sources are on the money, Hilton will be the latest major American chain to suffer a massive credit card security breach as the result of a malware incursion. Criminals typically plant malware on PC-like tills to collect credit card information when a purchase is made, and then siphon off the numbers.

In 2014, Target, Home Depot, and UPS all caught infections in their tills. ®

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