My India Today

An Indian hacker allegedly helped a Russian mafia gang steal identities of an estimated eight million people that could lead to a loss of around three billion pounds, the most audacious cyber-crime in history.
During an investigation, the Scotland’s Sunday Herald discovered that late on Thursday night a previously unknown Indian hacker successfully breached the IT defences of the Best Western Hotel group’s online booking system and sold details of how to access it through an underground network operated by the Russian mafia.

The alleged hacker’s name was not given in the report and it was also not mentioned how he was identified to be an Indian.

The cyber-attack reportedly scooped up the personal details of every single customer that has booked into one of Best Western’s 1312 continental hotels since 2007.

The Sunday Herald newspaper (London) said details on how to access the site were being sold and that data of thousands of customers who had stayed at Best Western hotels in Europe during last year had been accessed.

Best Western International is the world’s largest hotel brand with more than 4,000 hotels in 80 countries.

Tim Wade, head of marketing for Best Western GB, said it was “unlikely” that whoever was responsible got hold of the details of “every booking at every hotel” in Europe because of the way their system worked.

He added: “We are investigating further and that investigation is being led by our team in North America. They are in control of the systems.

“Best Western took immediate action to disable the compromised log-in account in question.

“We are currently in the process of working with our credit card partners to ensure that all relevant procedural standards are met, and that the interests of our guests are protected.

“We continue to investigate the root cause of the issue, including but not limited to the third-party website that has allegedly facilitated this illegal exchange of information.

“We encourage guests with concerns to contact their local Best Western customer service team.”