Chinese Hotel Management Company Reports Breach of 500M Pieces of Personal Data

News outlets including the BBC and U.S. News World Report are reporting a data breach of client information from Huazhu Group Ltd. According to its website, the Chinese hotel management company operates more than 3,000 properties in 200 cities under 18 brands including that of French hotel group AccorHotel's Mercure and Ibis hotels.  

According to BleepingComputer.com, a hacker is selling the information of more than 130 million hotel guests for eight bitcoins ($56,000) on the dark web. It's also reporting that the information for sale contains: "official website registration information (ID card number, mobile phone number, email address, login password); check-in registration information (customer name, ID card number, home address, birthday), and booking information (name, card number, mobile phone number, check-in time, departure time, hotel ID number, room number)."

According to the BBC, cyber security experts Zibao believe the hotel's database was accidentally uploaded to the internet via Github, a service where developers can collaborate.