Protect Your Hotel Network and Guests From Cyber Threats

The pressure to modernize and keep up with guest expectations makes hospitality a dynamic industry and a vulnerable target for network cyberattacks. In fact, hospitality ranks third, behind retail and finance for likelihood of a data breach.¹ 

To keep sensitive property and guest information protected, it is essential for hoteliers to understand why the industry is at risk, track the evolving threat profile and know where they are vulnerable. Keep sensitive property and guest information protected by doing the following:

Understand why the hospitality industry is at risk

To gain efficiencies, reduce costs and improve the guest experience, the hospitality industry is focused on technology innovations such as biometrics to speed check-in, smart HVAC systems and more. However, the more devices connecting to a network, the more vulnerable it is to cyberattacks.²

• 513,936,296 hospitality data records were stolen or lost in 2018.3 In early 2020, 5.2 million guest records were compromised in one hotel chain breach³
• 423 million U.S. travelers have been victims of a cyberattack through their business with hotels⁴
• 70% of guests believe hotels don’t invest enough in cybersecurity protection⁵

Track the evolving threat profile

The threats targeting hotels are constantly changing as hackers develop workarounds to gain entry to systems and bypass security responses. The top three threats affecting hotels are:

• Phishing: Hackers target those in charge of areas like payroll or accounts payable with bogus emails, hoping to gain access to systems or convince them to approve money transfers.
• Ransomware: Every 40 seconds a business is targeted, and over 20 percent of businesses that pay a ransom do not get their data back.⁶
• Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks: The hospitality industry has become a favorite target for DDoS attacks. Hotels use a wide array of devices such as TVs and reservation systems that can be leveraged to disrupt other systems.⁷

eveKnow where you’re vulnerable

Hospitality data breaches occur in these three areas:⁸

• Corporate internal networks: 64%
• E-commerce: 18%
• Point-of-sale (POS): 18%

Find comprehensive coverage and support

Widespread, coordinated network protection can keep you one step ahead of evolving and growing hospitality network threats. Schedule a consultation with a Hospitality technology specialist and discover how to start protecting your property and guests.

^Sources:

1. ^{“2019 Trustwave Global Security Report,” Trustwave, 2019. https://securenation.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Trustwave_GSR_2019_Final-.pdf}
2. ^{“The hospitality industry welcomes IoT: 2019 IoT survey,” PwC, 2019, https://www.pwc.com/us/en/services/consulting/technology/emerging-technology/iot-pov/hospitality-iot-snapshot.html.}
3. ^{“Up to 5.2 million guests affected in Marriott breach,” Hotel News Now, 2020, http://hotelnewsnow.com/Articles/301035/Up-to-52-million-guests-affected-in-Marriott-breach.}
4. ^{Delman, Matthew, “Are hotel guests safe from a data breach?” Security Boulevard, January 8, 2020. https://securityboulevard.com/2020/01/are-hotel-guests-safe-from-a-data-breach/.}
5. ^Ibid.
6. ^{“CISA Webinar: Combating Ransomware,” Department of Homeland Security, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8kC07tu27A&t=2229s.}
7. ^{Deeney, Natasha, “Tackling security threats in the hotel industry,” MetaCompliance, Feb. 19, 2020,  https://www.metacompliance.com/blog/tackling-security-threats-in-the-hotel-industry/.}
8. ^{“2020 Trustwave Global Security Report,” Trustwave, 2020, https://www.trustwave.com/en-us/resources/library/documents/2020-trustwave-global-security-report/.}