TripAdvisor (TRIP) Down on Viator Data Breach Concerns

Following news of a data breach at TripAdvisor's (TRIP) recent acquisition, Viator, the travel information company’s shares declined more than 4% to $94.29.

Viator revealed that approximately 560,000 customers’ personal information were compromised and 880,000 customers had their payment card information stolen.

While personal information included email addresses, encrypted passwords and Viator nicknames, financial information included credit and debit card numbers, card expiration date, name, billing address and email address details.

TripAdvisor has advised its users to change their passwords on the Viator website and check all card details to ensure security. Any fraudulent charges need to be reported to their credit card company. However, the recent breach has not only put current cyber security solutions under the scanner, but also the habit of using a simplistic password that can be easily guessed.

TripAdvisor acquired Viator for $200 million in July. San Francisco-based Viator is a website featuring more than 20,000 tours that can be booked in 1,500 countries. Additionally, the company offers 600,000 travel reviews and opinions on its website. The acquisition complements TripAdvisor’s travel product portfolio and help improve efficiency, expand the company’s user base, increase traffic, hotel shoppers and profits.

The news comes on the heels of several high-profile data breaches, including the one at eBay (EBAY), where unknown perpetrators infiltrated a database gaining unauthorized access to its corporate network. Another data breach at Target Corp. (TGT) affected 110 million customers during the holiday season of 2013. According to EMC Corp's (EMC) RSA division, apart from eBay, Target and Neiman Marcus Group Ltd., data of at least 41 retail companies were compromised and debit and credit card details of approximately 50K customers were stolen during the same period.

Amid the growing number of data breaches, corporations and companies are looking for more stringent cyber security measures to plug the loopholes in the system. While new security solutions may not be a permanent answer to the problem, it will serve as the first step.

Currently, TripAdvisor has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

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