6 Easiest Blockchain Integrations That Marriott Could Use

I love staying at a Marriott. As a middle-class boy, it used to feel like a dream when I couldn’t.

Now that I can, my priorities have changed.

Yes, comfort and service is still very important, but the increasingly transparent and interconnected world makes me want to stay private.

I want to keep my data mine. I don’t want the world to know where I stay, how long I stay, with whom I stay, and what I eat.

If you relate to this, keep reading.

The Marriott data breach of 2018 was one of the largest and most significant data breaches in history. It involved the compromise of the personal information of up to 500 million guests who had stayed at properties operated by Starwood, a hotel chain that Marriott International had acquired in 2016.

Here are some key details before we discuss the Blockchain aspect:

Date: Marriott announced the breach on November 30, 2018.

How: The breach was discovered in September 2018 when an internal security tool flagged an unauthorized attempt to access the Starwood guest reservation database. Upon investigation, Marriott found that the breach had been ongoing since 2014, well before their acquisition of Starwood.

The attackers installed malware and used Remote Access Trojans (RATs) to maintain access to the network over several years.

Extent of the Breach: Initially, Marriott estimated that up to 500 million guests had their information compromised. Later, this figure was revised to approximately 383 million unique records.

Personal Information Compromised: This included names, mailing addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, passport numbers, and Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) account information.

Payment Information Compromised: Encrypted credit card numbers and expiration dates were also compromised, though Marriott stated that there was no evidence that the decryption keys had been stolen.

Additionally, Some guests’ travel itineraries, dates of birth, and communication preferences were also accessed.

Outcomes

The breach resulted in significant costs for Marriott, including fines, legal fees, and costs related to improving security measures.

The company was fined £18.4 million by the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

It also costed considerable damage to Marriott’s reputation, with many customers losing trust in the brand. The incident highlighted the risks associated with acquiring companies with potentially insecure IT systems.

Furthermore, Marriott faced multiple lawsuits from affected customers and shareholders, leading to class-action settlements and ongoing legal challenges.

In response to the breach, Marriott undertook a series of measures to enhance its cybersecurity posture, including improving its network security, encryption practices, and incident response protocols.

Enter Blockchain

No crypto payments, no loyalty rewards, no cashbacks in tokens, no DeFi aspect.

Plain old Blockchain. That’s what Marriott needs first.

The Marriott data breach serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities in data security and the far-reaching consequences of inadequate cybersecurity practices.

To mitigate threats like Remote Access Trojan (RAT) attacks and tools like MimiKatz, Marriott can leverage Blockchain’s inherent security features such as immutability, decentralized authentication, and cryptographic encryption. Here’s how Blockchain can be used to protect against these threats:

1. Decentralized Storage

• By moving away from a centralized database, Marriott would mitigate the risk of large-scale breaches where attackers can steal vast amounts of data at once, while still maintaining access to their own data.
• The use of public/private key pairs ensures that only authorized personnel can access the data, reducing the likelihood of unauthorized access even if a breach occurs.
• Only 1% or 2% of the amount Marriott had to pay to the UK Government would be enough to do a POC on this concept and explore unparalleled advantages.

2. Multi-Sig infrastructure

• This one, Marriott is already doing, they just need to make it modern. Each branch of Marriott has a manager, then a zone head, then a country head.
• Multisig (multi-signature) infrastructure could be implemented where access to sensitive data or systems requires the approval of multiple parties. For example, accessing customer data might require the private keys of two or more authorized employees.
• Remember the heist movies and series on Netflx where thieves steal two or more keys to access a vault? Well, a multi-sig is like that, but way less expensive and very easy to implement.
• In scenarios like the Twitter hack, where employee credentials were compromised, a multisig system would make it much harder for attackers to gain unauthorized access since they would need to compromise multiple keys.

3. Decentralized Authentication / Zero Knowledge Proofs

• Instead of storing passwords, a Blockchain-based system can use public/private key pairs for authentication. This means even if a RAT infects a system, it cannot easily steal or use credentials without access to the private key, which can be securely stored in hardware security modules (HSMs) or other protected environments.
• Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) could be used to authenticate users without actually revealing their passwords or other sensitive information. This means that even if an attacker intercepted the authentication process, they would not gain access to usable credentials.
• KPs ensure that users can prove their identity without exposing their actual credentials, adding an additional layer of security.

4. Immutable Logging and Monitoring

• Blockchain’s immutable ledger can be used to log system activities in a way that cannot be tampered with by a RAT. This makes it easier to detect unauthorized access or malicious activities. In the case of Starwood, it was too late to discover a breach but if system logs were stored in Blockchain, it could have been identified way sooner.
• Log every login attempt, access request, and system modification on the Blockchain. This creates a tamper-proof audit trail that can alert administrators to unusual activity, helping to detect and respond to a RAT infection before it can escalate.

5. Secure Communication and Data Encryption

• RATs often rely on exfiltrating data or sending commands over unencrypted channels. Blockchain can be used to ensure that data in transit is encrypted and that only verified nodes can communicate.
• Use Blockchain-based platforms to establish secure, peer-to-peer communication channels where encryption keys are managed on the Blockchain. This ensures that even if a RAT is present, the data it intercepts is useless without the corresponding decryption key.
• This makes Marriott future-proof as Blockchain evolves and provides quantum-proof encryption for secure communication in the quantum era.

6. Zero-Trust Frameworks

• Blockchain can enable zero-trust security models, where no device or user is trusted by default, even if they are within the network perimeter. This reduces the effectiveness of RATs and tools like MimiKatz.
• Implement a Blockchain-based identity and access management (IAM) system where every access request, even from internal users or devices, is verified against the Blockchain ledger before being granted. This limits the ability of a RAT to move laterally within a network.

Summary

Mentioned above are some of the easiest integrations that can be executed in a controlled environment before implementing on scale.

More advanced implementations could take months and years to implement on a large scale.

However, the objective of easy integrations is to realize the profound benefits of implementing Blockchain solutions so that companies like Marriott invest in more advanced solutions, taking the industry forward.

For instance, Blockchain can be used to create digital identities that are verified through a consensus mechanism. These identities can be tied to biometric data or hardware tokens, making it difficult for attackers to replicate or steal them, even if they gain access to system memory.

Or,

Marriott can deploy smart contracts on their private Blockchain networks that monitor system behavior and automatically trigger responses when certain conditions are met, such as disconnecting a device if unusual credential access is detected. This reduces the window of opportunity for tools like MimiKatz to extract useful information.

Possibilities are endless, and so are the benefits of having a Blockchain-enabled digital infrastructure.