Hackers breach Trump luxury hotel chain and steal customer credit card information

US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's chain of luxury hotels is facing yet another possible breach. Hackers reportedly breached the Trump Hotel Collection, which includes more than a dozen properties around the world, and stole customer credit card information.

According to cybersecurity specialist Brian Krebs, he noticed the hack when the financial and banking sector alerted him about certain patterns of fraudulent credit card charges emerging from the Trump Hotel Collection, which suggested that hackers had breached at least some, if not all properties of the luxury hotel chain.

The company is currently investigating claims of the hack, with the assistance of US federal law enforcement agencies. However, an official confirmation is yet to be provided. Donald Trump's son and Trump Organisation executive, Eric Trump said in a statement: "Like virtually every other company these days, we are routinely targeted by cyberterrorists whose only focus is to inflict harm on great American businesses. We are committed to safeguarding all guests' personal information and will continue to do so vigilantly."

This is not the first time Trump's hotels were hit by hackers. In July 2015, Krebs reported that the Trump hotels had been breached and customer credit card information stolen, which the Trump Hotel Collection acknowledged only in October of the same year. The breach involved customers' credit card and banking information stolen from several of Trump's hotels between May 2014 and June 2015.

Trump hotels are not the only luxury hotel chain to be targeted by hackers. The year 2015 saw the security of hospitality giants like Hilton and Hyatt breached by hackers who went on to steal customer credit card information.

It is still uncertain as to how many hotels and customers from the chain were affected by the reported breach. However, Trump has recently been personally targeted by hackers, including hacktivist group Anonymous, who say they want to shut down his political aspirations by targeting his presidential campaign. Ironically, Trump, not unlike his peers, has offered very little clarity on cybersecurity policies throughout his presidential campaign.