Watch Your Credit Card For Hotel Hacks

(MYFOX NATIONAL) – Computer hackers' target of choice is the hospitality industry, according to a new report.

DarkReading.com , an online security trade publication, stated that hackers found their way into hotel networks more than any other in 2009.

The study also discovered that hotels did not discover the security breaches for an average of 156 days.

Nicholas Percoco, a senior vice president of Trustwave's SpiderLabs, released the findings at the Black Hat DC 2010 security conference last week. The data was compiled from 218 data breach investigations in organizations across 24 countries, according to DarkReading.com .

Financial services accounted for about 19 percent of the breaches, while the hospitality industry accounted for about 38 percent, according to the report. Retail came in third at 14.2 percent and the food and beverage industry was fourth at 13 percent.

About 98 percent of the targeted data was payment card information. Percoco said at the conference that credit and debit card information is most popular because it is easy "to turn into cash quickly," according to DarkReading.com .

Authentication credentials, financial information, health care and other sensitive information each accounted for 1 percent of the targeted data.

The DarkReading report did not release names of any affected hotels, though similar stories have been in the media in recent years.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts discovered in mid-September 2008 that a hacker had gotten into a computer system of one of the chain's franchised hotels, according to a press release .

ComputerWorld.com reported that 41 hotels and resorts were affected as hackers stole thousands of credit card numbers.

Radisson Hotel was also among hotels hacked, according to SC Magazine , which stated that the system was compromised between November 2008 and May 2009.