Potential Cyber Threats That Might Await Your Hotel

With an evolving global cybersecurity environment, we are all talking about one of the most susceptible industries, hospitality. In 2019, a major leak of stolen credential happened and hotel systems were violated. Choice Hotels has lost over 700,000 consumer records to cyber hackers and Marriot Hotels has been fined £100 million for their 2018 incident. This year, hotels will remain an aim for cyber criminals, as the amount of information they hold is a possible gold mine for online criminals. Today, it is more critical than ever for hotels to start investing in cyber protection strategies to ensure that they protect themselves and the guests. Here are five possible risks in the hospitality industry.

Ransomware

Ransomware has been a common problem for a long time and uses the fact that lots of hotels don’t have dedicated security resources to guarantee that systems are regularly updated and secured with anti-virus and anti-malware software. Achieving proper patch management together with rigorous anti-malware controls is essential to every enterprise, not just hoteliers.

Phishing

Phishing relates to sending/receiving emails that claim to be from a legitimate source. A suspect uses it attempting to persuade the receiver to exchange information. There are frequent passwords and financial information involved; this scam has been out there on the Internet for a long time now.

In recent times, this challenge became more complex, with threats targeting those in control. The goal is to take over an email address from the user to send fake emails to colleagues. These emails are also meant to convince recipients to approve transfers requested from above.

Cyber Security Liability

This applies to how the cyber security incident can affect other parties with which your hotel is in partnership. For instance, if a happening taking place inside the hotel were catered by an external business, this external supplier will maybe also see damage as a result of a cyber attack, should the hotel be forced to cancel the event. It will come at the expense of you and the hotel itself, since it may have had some consequences during an investigation or due to the contract you have agreed upon before the event. Besides, nobody wants that kind of reputation, right?

DarkHotel Hacking

DarkHotel Hacking is a pretty new risk, which includes utilizing Wi-Fi to fool business guests. The attacker uploads malicious code to the hotel server to persuade the guests that installing the software is secure.

It is vital to take the appropriate precautions and tell visitors to use virtual private networks (VPN) when dealing with confidential business data.

Insider Threats

It’s not fun to consider that your workers might be acting against you, but it’s all too normal. From actively taking documentation to be used in a new career to obtaining credit card information from visitors, the insider danger is very serious and must be taken that way. Workers will frequently have access to guest documents, and cleaning staff will have clear access to rooms and belongings. Hoteliers must understand that third parties, as well as staff, have access to their networks and records. It is important to provide a comprehensive emergency response strategy that covers insider risks.

Don’t underestimate the significance of cybersecurity. Prepare well to be in the position to respond to any potential threats in due time.