Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants is investigating reports of
a payment card data breach at its properties. The company disclosed the
possible breach via a statement on its website Tuesday: "As soon as
we learned of this, we immediately launched an investigation
and engaged a leading security firm to provide us with support." The
note advised individuals to monitor their payment card data while Kimpton
continues its inquiry. Typically when breaches
occur at hotels they are facilitated by malware planted on hotel
point-of-sale systems at on-property outlets, such as restaurants, gift shops
and spas. Similar breaches have occurred at Hilton
Worldwide, Starwood
Hotels & Resorts, Trump
Hotels, and, most recently, Omni
Hotels & Resorts, where 49 properties and more than 50,000 card numbers
were affected, according to The Wall Street Journal.