Marriott: It's Early to Estimate Cost of Data Breach

By: Taarek Refaat

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 (SEE)- Marriott International Hotels said on Wednesday that it was too early to estimate the cost of last week's data breach.

The company's chief financial officer Leeny Oberg said, during the Barclays investor conference, that the database of about 500 million visitors has been hacked last week, expecting material costs associated with the incident.

The hack hit Starwood's resorts and hotels, which was acquired by the hotel chain in a deal worth $ 13.6 billion in 2016.

"Marriott has invested in improving data security for several years," Oberg said, noting that there is already significant development right now.

Last week, Morgan Stanley bank announced in a statement that the company could face up to $ 200 million in fines, in addition to other litigation costs for hotel guests.

The company faces inquiries from European regulators as well as the US Senate Trade Committee, which set a two-week deadline for the chain to provide details of its investigations and a timetable for the incident.