An exclusive report from Scotland's Sunday Herald newspaper says that an international criminal gang has managed to steal the identities of an estimated eight million guests of the Best Western hotel chain in a hacking raid that could ultimately net billions of dollars in illegal funds.

According to the report, late on Thursday night, a previously unknown Indian hacker successfully breached the IT defenses of the Best Western Hotel group's online booking system and sold details of how to access it through an underground network operated by the Russian mafia. It is a move that has been dubbed the greatest cyber-heist in world history. The attack scooped up the personal details of every single customer that has booked into one of Best Western's 1312 continental hotels since 2007.

Update 11/25/2008: Best Western Responds to Sunday Herald Story Claiming Security Breach

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Related topics: Cyberattack, Cybercrime, Security