Orbitz data breach: 800,000 customers are at risk of identity theft

Credit card details of 800,000 customers might have been exposed by hackers, Orbitz admits

On Tuesday, March 20, 2018, Orbitz, one of the subsidiaries of the American travel company Expedia Inc.,^[1] released an official report claiming that a possible data breach has been detected. According to preliminary data, cybercriminals smashed the companies servers on January 1, 2016, and accumulated personal data, including full name, payment card information, date of birth, phone number, email address, home address, and gender since December 22, 2017.^[2]

The Orbitz data breach is estimated to have affected approximately 880,000 customers. Customers who have ordered the flights via older Orbitz platforms over the past two year should check their credit card details and change the passwords, the company adds.

The official domain of the Expedia Inc.'s Orbitz services currently available via Orbitz[.]com has not been hacked. The company confirmed that the breach affected older Orbitz's platforms only.

The price of Expedia shares has already fallen

The report about a possible data breach that lasted almost a year has already influenced the value of the shares. Based on company's calculations, Expedia's share price decreased nearly 2% during the day when the report was released.

While the company is investigating the evidence suggesting that hackers might have access to personal data of the customers, lawmakers started debates on how to enforce the security of people's data stored by various companies and increase their responsibility in case of privacy violation.

Whole Foods, Uber, Amazon, Sonic Corp., and Equifax are a few examples of data breaches being held in 2017.^[3] It has been estimated, that these data breaches put together leaked 55 millions of records. It seems that criminals are enjoying the success the last few years, so the company holders should strengthen the security of the servers. It's incorrect with regards to customers merely say sorry as the Orbitz did, “We deeply regret the incident,” says the company's spokesperson.

Steps to take to protect your finances after the data breach

Orbitz does not expatiate on the issue since the company's servers, and the gathered evidence is being under investigation. The company states that:

“As part of our investigation and remediation work, we brought in a leading third-party forensic investigation firm and other cybersecurity experts, began working with law enforcement and took swift action to eliminate and prevent unauthorized access to the platform.”

Besides, it claims that people who get into the list of potential data breach via older Orbitz's platforms should take some precautionary measures to protect themselves from further cyber attacks.^[4]

Monitor your account. What you have to do is to extract a payment record for a particular period and check if there are no charges that you don't recognize. In case of an emergency, you should immediately call your credit, debit, prepaid card company or bank and outline the current situation.

Get a new debit card. According to experts, debit cardholders affected by the data breach are in greater danger if compared to credit card holders. Therefore, if during the time of January 1 2016 – December 22, 2017 you initiated any financial transactions to Orbitz using a debit card, consider getting a new one.

Contact Orbitz and claim for a free credit monitoring service. Customers affected by the breach are offered a free credit monitoring service for one year. The service will initiate an ongoing review and report if a third-person opened a new account on your behalf.

Customers located in the US should sign in for a free credit monitoring by submitting the required information online or calling a toll-free 855-828-3959 customer support number.