Big Breaches: Cybersecurity Lessons for Everyone

© Neil Daswani and Moudy Elbayadi 2021

N. Daswani, M. ElbayadiBig Breacheshttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-6655-7_3

3. The Marriott Breach

Neil Daswani¹   and Moudy Elbayadi²

(1)

Pleasanton, CA, USA

(2)

Carlsbad, CA, USA

 

The Marriott breach of 2018 was one in which 383 million records and over 5 million passport numbers were stolen. The stolen records included names, dates of birth, credit card information, and home addresses. The breach was suspected to be due to a Chinese nation-state–funded attack in support of espionage efforts. It occurred due to three key causes:

1. 1.

   Marriott’s acquisition of Starwood Hotels without uncovering a breach at Starwood as a part of due diligence around the acquisition

    
2. 2.

   Poor security culture, staffing, and “technical ...