Marriott International Inc (NASDAQ:MAR) said it suffered a security breach for the second time in 16 months in January.
Overnight on Tuesday, the hotelier said the personal information of as many as 5.2mln of its guests, including contact details and personal information, may have been accessed by hackers.
Marriott said the login credentials of two employees at a franchise property had been used to access the information, with the breach believed to have occurred in mid-January before its discovery in February.
The company said it has notified the authorities of the breach and was also carrying out its won investigation.
Marriott’s data breach follows a similar failure in November 2018 when information belonging to around 500mln guests across its hotel brands was thought to have been exposed.
Shares in the group were down 6.4% at US$70 in pre-market trading in New York on Wednesday.