Tag Archives: Data Security

by | February 19, 2015 · 8:40 am

Hospitality Industry Security Update: “Tips to Keep Hotel Data Hackers at Bay”

Also of concern to hotels is the Dark Horse Virus, Shortz said. This virus is meant to capture sensitive data business travelers might have on their devices.data hack She said it presents itself as a system update when a user logs onto a hotel’s Wi-Fi network and is prompted to type in their name and room number…Data hacks will continue to happen in the hotel industry, the presenters said. During an interview with Hotel News Now following the session, Garfinkel said it’s not a matter of if a hotel company is hacked, but when.

Lara Shortz surveyed the crowd Tuesday at the Hospitality Law Conference and asked attendees to raise their hands if they’ve been involved in a data breach.

“If you haven’t raised your hand, you should,” Shortz, an attorney at Michelman & Robinson, said during a session titled “Anatomy of a hospitality data breach.”

The session was especially timely given reports that White Lodging was again targeted by data haxkers. In 2014, malware was found in the food-and-beverage outlets of 14 of  its hotels a year ago.

For more: http://bit.ly/1G81ko8

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Filed under Conferences, Crime, Employee Practices, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Technology, Theft

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by | November 19, 2014 · 9:48 am

Hospitality Industry Technology Update: “How Tech Will Make Your Hotel Room Feel Like Home (Or Better)”

In the wireless Internet age, guests increasingly expect a personalized experience abroad as well as at home. That can be tough on hotels, as rapid changes in technology makeforbes it difficult and expensive for them to adapt. A few years ago, hotels equipped themselves to handle two mobile devices per guest. Now, guests may have three or more, and just when they thought they had needs covered, hotels have to build more robust networks.

When you receive your morning wake-up call at theWit hotel in Chicago, there’s no robotic voice intoning, “It’s time for your wakeup call.” Instead, you can be rousted by a very different message:

“Hey you dirty rat, this is Al Capone reminding you to get your rotten bones out of that sack. Now get moving—I’ve got an overdue Valentine’s Day gift for Elliot Ness I’ve still got to deliver! [Laughter and gun shots].”

Or perhaps you’d rather hear Muddy Waters. Or Ann Landers. The touchscreen next to the phones in all of the hotel’s 310 rooms lets you choose who will urge you to rise and shine. Touch that same screen to request extra pillows, get a toothbrush or order meals—without ever picking up the phone.

For more: http://onforb.es/1uwkOOA

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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 | October 8, 2014 · 9:22 am

Hospitality Industry Management Update: “How Much Guest Data Do You Have a Right to Use?”

Pillsbury does his best to makes sure the question of data ownership is ambiguous in his contracts, Bosworth says.big data “It’s left as a, ‘Let’s leave it so that the contract is unclear on this point.’” That’s not a bad way to go. “There’s a strong motivation for the parties to play nice together,” Bennett says. “Because if a big fight breaks out over who owns the data, the answer is going to come down to, ‘None of you own this data. This is the data of the individual.’”

Using big data to gain insights about hotel guests is a relatively new development in the lodging industry. When done right, it can provide actionable intel to hoteliers that can boost room rates and drive more business to loyalty programs and marketing campaigns. And there are plenty of tech outfits stepping up to lend their expertise to hotels. “We have 18 companies now that we’ve invested in through Thayer Ventures, our venture capital arm, all in the hospitality travel technology space,” says Lee Pillsbury, co-chairman and chief executive officer of Thayer Lodging Group. “One is able to analyze the number of airline passengers overnighting in New York City in any date in the future.” If there’s a huge snowstorm coming to New York, Pillsbury says, the company will take into account the weather forecast and the 600 flights that will be canceled and determine the number of people who will now be staying overnight in Las Vegas as a result.

For more: http://bit.ly/1rX5JUQ

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by | July 25, 2014 · 9:00 am

Hospitality Industry Security Update: “How Best to Battle Against Cybercriminals”

“…As part of the plan, properties should be aware of laws pertaining to data breach disclosure,CyberCriminal-620x330 educate staff on protocols, contact law enforcement to see who would have jurisdiction in the case of a breach, and put outside data monitoring and incident response teams on retainer…”

Hotels, the bad guys have their beady eyes on you.

“The more credit cards you have, the more interesting you are to someone,” says Suzanne Widup, senior analyst with Verizon’s RISK team. “You have data that they want.”

The hotel industry has a big target on its back, agrees Chris Pogue, director at Trustwave, an information security technology and services company, specifically because property management systems, food and beverage, and retail all reside under one roof and a central integration server consolidates all this customer data.

For more: http://bit.ly/Uy6szg

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