Tag Archives: Cybersecurity

by | November 17, 2014 · 9:30 am

Hospitality Industry Security Update: “Cybersecurity Needs Planning, Periodic Review”

Whatever the cost, hoteliers are advised to take certain precautions. “Complacency” is dangerous, Schoshinski said, adding that hoteliers should update security protection plans periodicallyhackers…Despite such resources and other preventative measures in the hotel industry, “the bad guys are getting smarter,” Cividanes said. “The bad guys are watching what you do.

Data security breaches, a hot topic at last year’s Hotel & Lodging Legal Summit, took center stage again at the 2014 conference as the No. 1 topic that keeps hospitality lawyers “awake at night,” said Robert Lannan, program co-chair and principal of Lannan Legal PLLC.

His opening remarks mentioned several headline-making cases, including breaches at Target, Home Depot and White Lodging, where it was revealed in January 2013 that attackers allegedly collected customer credit and debit card numbers, security codes, card expiration dates and other personal information from guests who had stayed at 14 hotels.

For more: http://bit.ly/1zwrVIk

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by | November 12, 2014 · 9:42 am

Hospitality Industry Security Update: “Hackers Using Hotel Wi-Fi to Check Into Victims’ Computers”

Safeguarding against such an attack can be difficult for hotel guests. The best defense is to double check update alerts that pop up on your computer during a stay in a hotel.hackers Go to the software vendor’s site directly to see if an update has been posted and download it directly from there. Though, of course, this won’t help if the attackers are able to redirect your machine to a malicious download site

A hacking campaign known as Darkhotel has been deployed by Hackers to steal sensitive information from business executives, security researchers have revealed.

How it happened is that the sophisticated attackers had been lurking on the hotel’s network for days waiting for him to check in. They uploaded their malware to the hotel’s server days before then deleted it from the hotel network days after.

For more: http://bit.ly/1B9M6jS

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by | November 10, 2014 · 8:58 am

Hospitality Industry Management Update: “What You Should Know Before Monitoring Your Employees and Guests”

There are many legitimate reasons for an employer to monitor spaces at the workplace, in fact, the law might require the employer to do so in some situations.monitoring employees However, surveillance is a sensitive subject and employers have good reason to be cautious. As always, employers should consult competent legal counsel before implementing any workplace surveillance program.

Employees can make or break businesses in the service industry. While customer service oriented employees create a luxurious experience at a lesser establishment, employees that don’t prioritize customer service can ruin a guest’s experience even at the most finely-appointed hotel.

However, managers and supervisors cannot always be present to recognize and reward desirable service practices, nor can they always be present identify and correct poor practices. With so many points of customer and employee interaction, surveillance is one of the most effective methods to safeguard employee safety and integrity, review employee performance, identify training points, and document “HR issues.” Of course, too much of a good thing can be a problem.

Employers must understand the difference between valid surveillance and illegal intrusions on privacy rights before taking advantage of video/audio recordings. This article aims to help employers stay on the right side of that fence.

For more: http://bit.ly/1u1RgK0

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by | October 20, 2014 · 11:16 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Update: “Justices Will Decide Privacy Case on Hotel Records” (VIDEO)

“Los Angeles has said the ordinance makes prostitutes and drug dealers less likely to use hotels if they know that the facilities must collect information about guests and make them available to police on a moment’s noticegavel (1)…In dissent, Judge Richard Clifton said that courts previously have ruled that hotel guests have no expectation of privacy in records of their names and room numbers. “A guest’s information is even less personal to the hotel than it is to the guest,” Clifton said.”

The Supreme Court agreed Monday to referee a dispute over police access to hotels’ guest information without first getting a search warrant.

The justices said they will hear an appeal by the city of Los Angeles of a lower court ruling that struck down an ordinance that requires hotel operators to open their guest registries at the demand of police.

The federal appeals court in San Francisco divided 7-4 in ruling that the ordinance violates the privacy rights of the hotels, but not their guests.

For more: http://bit.ly/1zi8CGd

And for more information on how to best handle police requests for information, check out Petra’s own Director of Risk Management, Todd Seiders, in this P3 Risk Management Update “How to Handle Police and Law Enforcement Request for Hotel Guest Information”.

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/109469870 w=500&h=281]

P3 (Petra Plus Process) is the Risk Management Division of Petra Risk Solutions – America ’s largest independent insurance brokerage devoted exclusively to the hospitality marketplace.

For more information on Petra and P3 visit petrarisksolutions.com or call 800.466.8951.

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by | October 13, 2014 · 11:17 am

Hospitality Industry Risk Update: “Denver Police Warn Hotel Guests About Scammer Claiming to be Front Desk Employee”

The person called the guest, claimed to be working the front desk of the hotel,downtown denver then convinced the guest to release their credit card information, police said. Later, the guest became suspicious and called the front desk and realized they had been scammed.

A scam artist claiming to be a hotel employee in downtown Denver tricked a guest into giving out their credit card number and security pin.

The same scam was attempted on four other guests on the same night, according to the Denver Police Department. Investigators did not say which hotel the scammer targeted.

For more: http://bit.ly/1D7hU6v

And for more information on how to best handle hotel hoaxes and scams, check out Petra’s own Director of Risk Management, Todd Seiders, in this P3 Risk Management Update “Hoaxes and Scams”.

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/108805070 w=500&h=281]

P3 (Petra Plus Process) is the Risk Management Division of Petra Risk Solutions – America ’s largest independent insurance brokerage devoted exclusively to the hospitality marketplace.

For more information on Petra and P3 visit petrarisksolutions.com or call 800.466.8951.

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by | September 22, 2014 · 9:16 am

Hospitality Industry Security Update: “Those ‘Secure’ Websites Aren’t Always Secure, Study Finds”

“InterContinental Hotels Group, for example, last year used Ghostery to discover the source of unauthorized digital vendors that were collecting data on some of the hotel company’s web pages,laptop which were slowing down the sites’ response times…’Every millisecond of page latency costs thousands of dollars in lost sales,’  said InterContinental Hotels Group Director of Web Delivery Chad Westfall.”

As brands invest in marketing technologies that make it easier to engage with consumers online, their concerns about digital security are growing.

Companies have encrypted web pages that are designed to prevent third parties from accessing customer data entered online. But many of these sites still have marketing technology that isn’t secure and that could expose a brand to potential data breaches, according to new research from privacy tech firm Ghostery.

Ghostery examined 50 encrypted websites in the airline, financial services, insurance, news and retail industries using data collected from its panel of 20 million consumers. According to Ghostery, 96% of the web pages studied that were supposed to be secure had a security blind spot due to the presence of non-secure code.

For more: http://on.wsj.com/1mCbsAJ

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by | September 12, 2014 · 3:08 pm

Hospitality Industry Conference Update: “15th Annual California Tourism Safety & Security Conference”

Last years conference was a huge success and we could not be more excited to be back! Come see Petra’s own Director of Risk Management, Todd Seiders, along with other members of the Petra P3 team. We hope to see you there!

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For more information on our P3 team: http://bit.ly/WUWpWi

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by | September 11, 2014 · 10:16 am

Hospitality Industry Technology Update: “The Apple Watch Will Help You Unlock Hotel Rooms Without a Key. But is That a Good Idea?”

“But moving systems to a smartphone or other mobile device that has built-in computing power that could be used to run algorithms to break that security could ‘open up a big can of worms,’ Apple Watchhe said. Although he assumes Hilton and other companies considering this move have taken ‘great care’ to reduce risk, he still worries that the additional attack surface and communication abilities of mobile devices might make them more difficult to secure.”

At least one app for the Apple Watch will allow the wearer to unlock a hotel room with the wave of a wrist. But using mobile devices to provide keyless entry to hotel rooms isn’t a novel concept — and could come with added security risks.

Hotels have been experimenting with mobile apps to unlock hotel rooms for some time. The Starwood Hotel group, which is reportedly working on an Apple Watch app, had been testing a similar feature for smartphone users at least since earlier this year. And in July, Hilton Hotels announced guests would be able to use digital check-in and room selection at more than 4,000 properties around the world by the end of this year.

For more: http://wapo.st/1lYgLda

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by | August 22, 2014 · 9:23 am

Hospitality Industry Insurance Update: “Business Interruption Coverage More Important Than Ever to Cyber Policies” (Video)

Video

Click image to play video

London-based MGA, CFC Underwriting, has brought a new cyber product to market for large companies that goes beyond the traditional cyber product, says Graeme Newman, director of marketing for the company. In this video with MyNewMarkets.com, Newman discusses how the increased knowledge of cyber risks has led large companies to demand a more complete product that includes business interruption coverage and how CFC’s coverage addresses these exposures.

For more: http://bit.ly/1whB8GL

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by | August 7, 2014 · 9:42 am

Hospitality Industry Security Update: “Word to the Wise: Phone Scam Targets Hotel Guests”

“…The callers are very convincing. According to hotel guests targeted by this scam,front desk the caller sounds very professional. However, hotels generally handle any questions about billing at the front desk, not over the phone. And they certainly wouldn’t be calling you in the middle of the night…”

Many travelers are trying to squeeze in last-minute vacations before schools are back in full swing. Unfortunately, scammers know this and may try to trick you into divulging your credit card information by posing as hotel employees. The Better Business Bureau warns travelers to beware of a telephone phishing scam designed to steal credit card numbers.

Hotel guests across the nation are alerting local BBBs of the increased popularity of this scam. Since travel and hotel stays tend to increase during the summer, the scammers ramp up their efforts during this time.

For more: http://bit.ly/1ou7mUV

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