Hotel Cybersecurity: The Most Common Threats and How to Address Them

It’s no secret that the hotel industry is under attack. In fact, over the past few years, some of the most well-known brands have all been victims of cybercrime. As a hotelier, it’s important to take cybersecurity seriously and invest in protecting your guests, employees, and business. In this blog post, we will take a closer look at hotel cybersecurity and the most common threats. We will also discuss what you can do to address these threats and keep your business safe.

The Critical Ways Cybersecurity Could Impact Your Hotel

The first step in defending your hotel against cybercrime is to understand the dangers. Here we will review some of the most common ways cybersecurity may have an impact on your company:

Data Breach – A data breach might expose your visitors' personal information, such as their credit card numbers and addresses. This can not only result in identity theft, but also damage to your business's reputation.

Ransomware – Ransomware is a form of malware that prevents you from accessing your computer or device until you pay a ransom. This can severely restrict your company's operations, and it might cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars to unlock.

Employee Fraud – Employees with access to secret information such as credit card numbers or social security numbers can easily steal this.

Phishing attacks at Hotels

Another significant concern is hotel cybersecurity. Cybercriminals use phishing attacks to dupe users into giving their personal information. These emails may be from trusted sources, but they're really designed to obtain your personal information. These emails frequently include links or attachments that install malware on your computer if you click on them.

Make sure that your employees use strong passwords and change them on a regular basis. Make sure all of your workers use strong passwords and alter them on a regular basis. Also, avoid using the same password for multiple accounts.

Ransomware at Hotels

The most recent ransomware assaults have hit nations and businesses all around the world. The most recent ransomware, WannaCry, was a serious concern since it seized data and certain systems hostage. The objective of this assault was to financially benefit from those who paid the ransom to free their data/systems.

As a hotelier, you are vulnerable to cyber-related blunders that allow this sort of attack to succeed. Hotels who have been defrauded in the past have spent more than £17,000 to be able to let visitors into their rooms and generate electronic keys.

Distributed Denial of Service Attack (DDoS) at Hotels

The third type of assault that hotels all around the world face is a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. You may be familiar with it in connection with the internet if you've ever experienced a DDoS. However, for those who want to attack a wide range of hotels use systems, it is also a favourite method. Every day common goods such as sprinkler systems and security cameras are vulnerable to takeover. Then entire computer systems can be brought crashing down by hacking them. Hotels should always have in place a procedure to minimise the impact of any hacked equipment.

Point of sale/payment card attacks at Hotels

Retailers of all sizes, from small retail shops to huge corporations, are vulnerable. The hotel industry is therefore especially susceptible to point-of-sale attacks because they represent the greatest risk to the sector as a whole. They're not targeting the actual hotel; rather, they're a third-party crime that assaults the vendor.

If a hotel is not prepared they can be compromised by computer hackers, leading to significant costs for the business. Customers may be out of pocket as a result of these sorts of security breaches, and the media frequently get involved. Of course, this translates to bad publicity for a hotel in general. Furthermore, the firm may face financial penalties as a consequence of such cyberattacks. One example of this is MasterCard billing an unnamed establishment for $1.4-million, and Visa around $500,000.

DarkHotel at Hotels

Do you have no idea what a DarkHotel is? It's a relatively new phrase that refers to criminals using hotel Wi-Fi to target company visitors.

The assaults employ fraudulent digital certificates to deceive victims into believing that a software download is secure. Credential-harvesting attacks are one of the most prevalent methods used by attackers to gather usernames and password combinations for open hotel Wi-Fi networks. The first known case of DarkHotel hacking occurred in 2007, when hackers exploited peer-to-peer networks with spear-phishing attacks. If you have visitors who are worried about DarkHotel hacking, recommend that they use virtual private networks (VPN) when conducting business with sensitive data.

Customer Data/Identity Theft at Hotels

Protecting the identity and information of a customer is paramount to the success of any business and hotels are no exception.

The amount of hacking surrounding guest information is one of the most common worries hoteliers have. As a result, network security and cybersecurity are critical. Especially when criminals from all across the world are attempting to steal people's identities and credit card data.

Unfortunately, hoteliers are facing this challenge for the rest of their lives. This implies that when it comes to cybersecurity for hotels, there is an almost continuous arms race to secure both data and networks.

Conclusion

In conclusion, hotel owners must take cyber security seriously to safeguard their customers and company. The most prevalent threats to hotels are ransomware, DDoS assaults, point-of-sale attacks, DarkHotel hacking, and customer data/identity theft. If you have worries, please contact the Siemlus team for further information.