Hospitality Industry Information Security Risks: Hotel's Guest's Credit Cards Are Targets For "Identity Thiefs" From "Mulitple Charges" During Stay

“…hotels have lots of employees — and many of them have access to the credit card and other personal information of guests. No matter how well trained and supervised, more personnel correlates to greater risk. The fact that low-level employees typically have access to key guest information, and that there is, historically, a high turnover in hotel employees, exacerbates the problem…”

Hotels are obvious targets for identity and financial theft for many reasons. Hotels transact business through credit cards, and those credit cards are kept on file and can be accessed multiple times during a guest’s stay. The possibility that a credit card charge will be recorded occurs with each night’s room charge, room service, bar or restaurant bill, spa charge, and so on. Every charge is another opportunity for an identity thief to access the information using sophisticated computer hacks and other malicious software, generally without the hotel’s knowledge.

The need to respond to guest demands is another source of insecurity. The Identity Theft Resource Center noted, “The ability to connect to the Internet is an integral part of many individuals daily life. This has led to the increased demand for public WiFi.” As a result, hotels find themselves compelled to offer wireless internet, and that service is almost always unsecured. But an unsecured wireless network is “just as dangerous as leaving files of your most important personal documents on a street curb for all to see. Hackers can easily get into an unsecured wireless network and get financial information, business records or sensitive e-mails.” (PC World, “Got Wireless Security”, http://www.pcworld.com/article/125040/got_wireless_security.html). At the same time, hotels have little say in the matter. Guests demand wireless internet service.

Some security researchers have described a wave of attacks against the hospitality industry. In 2010, the cybersecurity consultant Trustwave found that in 38% of its investigations, hotels and resorts were the victims of successful cyber intrusions, despite those firms only representing 3% of its customers.  Hotels represent a disproportionate number of security breaches.

For more:  http://hotellaw.jmbm.com/2012/10/liability_for_guest_information_.html