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You are not purchasing software -- you are investing in creating more efficient and productive business habits for your employees

7. Make Sure You Can Get Your Data Out

incorporate reputation, stability, R&D and references into the decision-making process

"How will this software investment enhance my services to benefit my customers’ businesses?

There should be a clear upgrade path that allows scaling and coverage of an expanded scope

CCS is taking off now in part because of the IPCC’s 2018 report on 1.5º of global warming.

some governments increased their ambition from a 40% or 50% reduction in emissions by mid-century to net-zero emissions.

“We’ve seen more governments embrace net-zero targets,”

Even without the new policies, three new CCS projects are in development in the U.S., all tied to power plants,

Ten are in development in Europe, equal to the total number now operating in the U.S.

“First, we'll see more carbon capture on natural gas power plants,”

“and in many places the license to operate for natural gas-fired power plants will be dependent on capturing their CO2.”

Second, many projects will capture methane to produce hydrogen, storing the CO2.

The ability to detect these threats before they can cause damage is significantly important. Examples of PCI DSS Requirements providing ”detection” controls include: Reviewing code in order to identify potential coding vulnerabilities (Req. 6) Use of vulnerability security assessment tools to test web applications for vulnerabilities (Req. 6) Audit logging and reviewing logs and security events for all system components to identify anomalies or suspicious activity (Req. 10) Use of file-integrity monitoring or change-detection software (Req. 11) Performing internal and external network vulnerability scans (Req. 11) Performing period penetration testing to identify security weaknesses (Req. 11) Alerting on posts to newly observed domains in proxy logs can further provide additional avenues of detection for future phishing attacks as well as the initial reconnaissance phases of an attack on a thirdparty JavaScript library. 

where 26 percent of travel agents stated that they used their GDS platform more often than in the past and 19 percent said they used the GDS Shopping Displays more often than before.

"Travel agents are increasing GDS hotel use, and have once again confirmed their confidence in GDS Shopping and Booking Displays,"

84 percent of respondents indicated that they were using their GDS platform the same amount or more often than in the past, with 35 percent stating that they are using GDS more.

n the survey, travel agents worldwide also indicated that promotional messages are effective and often prompt bookings: 66 percent of all travel agents surveyed who were aware of promotional messages requested additional information by looking at the screen attached to the promotional message.

"This survey definitively shows that promotional messages are not only an excellent way to reach travel agents, but also a valuable sales catalyst,

s the leading provider of revenue generating solutions for hoteliers across the globe. TravelClick offers hotels world-class reservation solutions, business intelligence products and comprehensive media and marketing solutions to help hotels grow their business.

is one of the fastest growing marketing research firms in the United States. With offices across the country and in Europe and partnerships with many of the largest companies in the financial services, consumer package goods, automotive, healthcare, media, technology and travel and leisure industries worldwide, PMI also offers advanced advertising and brand measurement along with direct marketing expertise.

Recology provides similar economic incentives through its “pay-as-you-throw” program  in which the less trash a business discards and the more it recycles and composts, the less it pays for pick-up services.

“Zero Waste means designing and managing products and processes to systematically avoid and eliminate the volume and toxicity of waste and materials, conserve and recover all resources and not burn or bury them. Implementing Zero Waste will eliminate all discharges to land, water or air that are a threat to planetary, human, animal or plant health.”

For business, especially hotels and restaurants, Stephanie Barger director of market development, zero waste programs at the U.S. Green Building Council, emphasized that “zero waste businesses are better businesses—better for themselves, better for customers and the communities in which they operate.”

Computer networking enhances seamless communication, cohesive functioning, and resource sharing.

Personal Area Networks are interconnected technology devices that serve a single individual within one facility.

LANs are limited to a single building like an official establishment.

MAN covers a distinctly larger are than LAN. MAN consists of configured computers covering a town, city or campus.

WAN covers a larger geographical area than MAN. The network connects a country or even continents.

HAN is a computer network limited to a defined boundary like a house or home office.

Computer networks reduce your hardware costs significantly.

resource pooling is efficient.

This eliminates the need to buy single IT assets for each employee.

With a central server, you lower the number of storage servers needed. And you increase the efficiency of operations.

You can access your data from any device. This enhances free movement while accessing your data wherever you may be.

Computer networking is a massive boon to the communication landscape. Networking allows you to send and receive text messages and files in real time.

Employees can download and exchange corrupt files which expose your server to viruses and malware. Shared resources open doors of opportunities for security breaches.

Small equipment such as modern routers is expensive. The networks also need regular monitoring and maintenance.

Computer networks are flexible, but employee productivity is a concern.

Quality technological solutions are a significant determinant of the success of any business.

Computer networking offers immense technological solutions to businesses and institutions in various formats.

“To win in the marketplace, you must first win in the workplace”- Doug Conant.

The four leading technologies which have showed a high adoption rate from the industry and have received attention from academia are: self-service, wireless, green, and security technologies. The advantages of these technologies for hoteliers include enhanced customer services and operational efficiency (Doyle, 2007), decreased guest wait times, more efficient methods to settle bills (Singh & Kasavana, 2005), reduction of energy costs (Meeroff & Scarlatos, 2007), and protection of sensitive customer data and credit card numbers

In addition, exploring the influential factors of security system usage will provide greater depth of knowledge with respect to why some hotels have adopted more security systems than others.

there is still a lack of understanding of the nature of risk associated with inadequate IT security, especially among operators of hotels that do not have their own IT departments.

Self-service technologies are commonly defined as devices or applications which permit users to produce a service independent from the direct involvement of the service provider (Meuter, Ostrom, Roundtree, & Bitner, 2000). The use of self-service technologies in the hotel industry has grown considerably, especially in the areas of self check-in, in-room check-out, and foodservice kiosks

IT systems refer to general support systems such as mainframe computer, mid-range computer, and local area network.

Some of the most significant wireless technology applications involve the use of mobile handheld devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDA), tablet PCs, and cellular phones, or RFID (radio frequency identification). RFID utilizes computer chips and antennas, allowing the chips to wirelessly communicate with a receiver.

While the major usage of RFID in the hotel industry was for inventory control purposes, it also has the potential to be utilized in ways that can provide more conveniences for the guests.

Other possible uses include placing RFID tags on items of high value as a means of theft prevention or integrating tags into guest loyalty cards for easy identification

IT investment that lowers environmental impact and IT that manages the environmental impact of other systems are commonly referred to as “green technology”

Many hoteliers might think becoming more environmentally friendly will cost more for their hotels. However, it has been demonstrated that “going green” is not only the right thing to do for the environment but also provides tangible bottom-line benefits for hotels by reducing consumption of energy and water, as well as other related costs.

Some of the risk factors involved include reliability, security, and privacy issues

risk associated with a breach of IT systems security (e.g., network break-ins) is very high. Consequently, no sector of the business community is exempt from attacks on their IT systems, with an attack being defined as a technique used to exploit a system’s vulnerabilities.

Many of these attacks involve attempts by thieves to gain access to customer credit card data, and these attempts constitute a major portion of the risk inherent in IT security

if a system is breached and the merchant is not PCI compliant, the merchant then is responsible for all costs associated with improperly used credit card information taken from that system (Kress, 2008). These losses could bankrupt a business if the security breach goes undetected for even a short time.

IT security systems are those measures taken to protect the confidentiality and integrity of proprietary data.

two main paradigms of adoption are believed to occur: bottom-up adoption and top-down adoption.

Thus, it is reasonable to assume that organizational factors (e.g., financial factor, human resource) will influence the implementation stage of security systems at a hotel.

A hotel with sufficient IT budget will install more security systems than those with insufficient IT budget.

That is, if a hotel does not have its own IT department, it will have a negative influence on successfully installing or maintaining necessary security systems.

A hotel with its own IT department will install more security systems than those without.

Overall, the state of IT spending on security continues undiminished because managed security services are required for almost every application (Communications News, 2007).

A hotel with more technologies being utilized will install more security systems than those with fewer technologies.

Given the importance of security and privacy at a luxury hotel, this study expects luxury properties to have installed more security systems than other segments

Most hotel employees use their property management systems for hotel operations and should be able to check their e-mails.

To justify the low response rate, previous studies which have compared response rates of mail and e-mail for surveys were reviewed.

The sample obtained in this study represented the targeted sample: over 80% of the respondents were working in hotel operations. Furthermore, the purpose of this study was to explore hotel operators’ insight of technology usage, IT budget, and security measures rather than to confirm existing theories or to generalize the results.

The respondents were asked to select from a total of fourteen securities related systems

The profile of the respondents revealed that they were experienced hoteliers with more than ten years experience in the industry

Fifty-three percent of the respondents reported that they were with chain hotels that would be considered mid-range properties with an average of 175 rooms (median of 107). Over 80% of the respondents reported working in operations, while fewer than 4% reported working in either IT or engineering (Table 1).

Nearly 70% of the respondents’ properties did not have their own IT department (69.2% did not have, and 30.8% had their own IT departments, n = 234, missing data = 10).

Fifty-three percent of them (n = 244) thought the most important goal for hotel technology would be enhancing the customer’s experience.

second identified goal was utilizing technology to help generate revenue (41%)

differentiate properties from their competition (20%), to lower expenses (16%), and to increase security (6%).

Internet kiosks in the lobby represented the most frequently used self-service technology (36.5%, n = 244), followed by kiosks for airline check-in/board pass

With respect to security systems currently in use, antivirus security systems represented the most frequently used security system (92.2%), followed by hardware firewalls, software firewalls, physical security, and encrypted login security systems.

intrusion detection was the most frequently identified system (15.6%), followed by vulnerability assessment scanning (13.5%), Internet scanning (13.1%), antivirus (11.5%), digital ID server (11.5%), and nonreusable passwords (9.8%; Table 2).

Thus, the hypothesis was supported that there was a linear relationship between the three factors and the adequacy of security systems.

The positive standardized coefficient (β) of .389 indicates that there was a statistically significant (p < .001) linear relationship between IT usage (the number of wireless, self-service, and green technologies a hotel was using) and the adequacy of security systems

The study revealed certain things of interest, the most significant of which is the need for greater emphasis on IT security among hoteliers.

only about 30% of all respondents reported having their own IT departments. Since budget hotel properties are extremely unlikely to have an IT department, it is highly likely that the very large majority of IT decisions throughout the industry are being made by hotel operators for whom IT is not their primary area of concern.

Furthermore, the focus of hoteliers for future IT implementations is enhancing the guest experience (53%) and generating revenue (41%). Very few respondents (6%) identified increasing security as a 5-year IT goal.

While almost all respondents use information systems as part of their jobs, very few are trained in the development, maintenance, and secure use of these systems.

no correlation was found between the respondents’ perceived adequacy of their IT budgets and the adequacy of installed security systems, as adequacy of IT budget did not appear as a significant term in the regression analysis.

Nearly 10% of respondents do not have so much as anti-virus protection for their systems, and nearly half do not even take simple physical precautions to protect their IT systems.

we note that no correlation exists between the respondents’ perceived adequacy of their IT budgets and the number of installed IT security systems, as the number of installed systems was not a significant factor in the regression analysis.

the large majority of respondent properties do not have their own IT departments. Second, the people making IT decisions generally do not have IT backgrounds or training. Third, the large majority of respondent properties have little more than firewalls or antivirus software to protect their proprietary data, and these systems alone are not adequate to meet PCI standards, as they do not take steps to encrypt and protect cardholder data, maintain a vulnerability management program, implement strong access control measures, regularly monitor and test their networks, and maintain an information security policy as required by the Security Standards Council.

it is reasonable to conclude that the respondents did not have an adequate understanding of the nature of the IT security hazards facing them for the average property does not have installed systems adequate to meet PCI standards, yet they reported having adequate budgets.

In order to adequately protect proprietary data, one must have an understanding of network security, which is an understanding apart from software functionality.

Properties with their own IT departments, however, reported that they had a higher number of installed IS security systems than did those properties without their own IT departments.

roperties without their own IT departments, in particular, have a less adequate understanding of their IT security needs than may be necessary.

This study found hoteliers’ lack of attention to security provision, training in IT, and PCI compliance can place hoteliers at great risk. For example, the cost of a single incident at a noncompliant property could result in the loss of the entire business.

It will be useful to examine the reasons why luxury properties are more likely to employ adequate security measures to determine whether this greater use is attributable to better understanding of security issues or some other factor.

The study was limited by the nature of online surveys; the response rate was quite low. Future studies could test the proposed research model via paper-based mail surveys to increase a response rate.

Telecommuting Is The Only Way Of Working For Many

With the remote working concept taking center stage, re-evaluation of these policies is needed to address the new cyberthreats.

With millions of employees working from home, hackers’ focus has shifted from enterprise to remote working individuals. To handle the menace that exists in cyberspace, decentralized cybersecurity will rise where greater emphasis will be placed on data sources such as actual remote employees themselves.

User access controls have largely revolved around single or two-factor authentication. These methods rely on “something you know (username)” and “something you have (password).”

This means identity protection will be a top priority, and the best defense should involve building authentication systems that focus on “who you are.” This would require advanced biometric solutions such as fingerprint/thumbprint/handprint, retina, iris, voice and other facial recognition technologies.

The current state of privacy regulations is designed around the enterprise network and building the proverbial wall to keep sensitive data out of prying eyes.

With swift digitalization, security controls will shift to data sources, similar to the trend witnessed in IoT.

From a risk management perspective, global privacy policies will need to encapsulate standard operating procedures regarding BYOD, GDPR compliance and state privacy laws.

The shift to cloud services offers employees, customers, suppliers and everyone else across the ecosystem a seamless and frictionless way to access data and applications. Remote access by various users would compound security challenges and present many new potential attack vectors. In the post-pandemic world, IT resources could shift toward data, particularly keeping data secure across cloud platforms.

This will facilitate cybersecurity teams to apply varied access controls and demarcate data storage to minimize the risk of cyber intrusion and data breach.

Innovative technologies such as ML/AI and AR/VR will see greater adoption. As we have already witnessed, video conferencing applications will continue to rise as non-contact interactions surge.

Sectors such as retail, hospitality and manufacturing will layer their adoption of robotics with added AR/VR capabilities.

Cybersecurity teams that are saddled with an events-based approach will be overly burdened with triages when a cyber breach occurs. By embracing an intelligence-driven approach, businesses can digitalize confidently with external threat intelligence as the guiding beacon.

Social engineering techniques to trick untrained and unsuspecting employees, third parties and contractors into releasing confidential information or letting an intruder into a corporate network will also intensify accordingly.

Cybersecurity awareness training for people across the entire supply chain and ecosystem will prevail.

That goes together with concepts like digital “immunity passports” that ride along with travelers carrying vaccination data and other encrypted personal health information.

but some hotel chains and management firms have looked to digital ID solutions to address consumers’ safety concerns.

MGM Resorts debuted a contactless check-in process that allows customers to use its mobile app to verify themselves, pay for their rooms and even receive digital keys.”

Biometrics are playing a huge role in new identity needs, and that function is widening.

organizers are canceling or postponing events throughout the country because of the outbreak of COVID-19.

which has 10 full-time employees, suffered a loss of more than $15,000 in the past month alone.

Smaller-scale event planners also feel a high level of uncertainty.

“None of this is going to allow us to make up for the lost revenue and growth,” she said. 

“My prediction is that my business will make 50% less of what it expected to do, if not less.”

'No Income at all for this month'

The event planning business generates $325 billion of direct spending in the USA and helps support more than 5.9 million jobs with $249 billion of labor income, according to an Oxford Economics and Events Industry Council study in 2018. 

organizers are canceling or postponing events throughout the country because of the outbreak of COVID-19.

“My prediction is that my business will make 50% less of what it expected to do, if not less.”

which has 10 full-time employees, suffered a loss of more than $15,000 in the past month alone.

The PCI Security Standards Council claims that since March, malicious virus-related reports are up 475%. The reason for the uptick is that cybercriminals are trying to take advantage of rapid changes to the payment-card data environment. In addition, 41% of small businesses have said they’ve suffered breaches costing more than $50,000 to fix.

Contactless payment is one of the big changes within the payment data environment. Several restaurant companies – from chains to independents – are offering it because it reduces customers' physical interaction with the restaurant's POS system. As part of this move, some businesses have eliminated credit-card PIN numbers.

Eliot says malicious email is usually the easiest way for cybercriminals to access your networks. The emails typically show up as urgent requests for sensitive information, often pretending to be from the Small Business Administration or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. When the intended victim types in his or her credentials and clicks on a specific link or downloads an attachment, criminals are in.

Anyone looking for easy-to-implement security tips can try these six to start. Reduce areas where payment-card data is stored. The best way to protect against a data breach is to avoid storing any card information at all. With many small operators offering curbside pickup and accepting payment over the phone instead of through face-to-face transactions, it’s important they train employees not to write down payment card details. Instead, have them enter numbers directly into a secure terminal. Use strong passwords. Using weak and default passwords is one of the leading causes of payment data breaches among businesses. Effective passwords must be strong and updated regularly. The most recent guidance is: the longer, the better. Think of it almost as a “passphrase” rather than a password. Use it in the form of a sentence, but mix in different characters within the phrase. It’s much harder to break a long passphrase than it is a short, complex password. Weak and vendor default passwords often result in small business data breaches. Also, don’t repeat your passwords. Update your software often. Criminals look for outdated software to exploit flaws in unpatched systems. Timely installations of security patches are crucial to minimizing the risk of a breach. Whenever updates are available, use them. They will improve performance and close out some of the vulnerabilities cybercriminals are searching for. Enable two-factor authentication. It's so important for restaurateurs, especially where their POS systems or any of their sensitive databases are concerned, to have two-factor or multi-factor authentication enabled. If an instance where credentials are stolen occurs, there will be a second layer of verification the operator can rely on to potentially reduce the chances that information will be breached. Segment your networks. If you are going to store payment data, make sure your POS system has its own separate, secure network. Do not store sensitive documents on public cloud services such as Google Docs or DropBox. If you’re going to store sensitive documents, house them in an encrypted, locked down location.   Be hyper-vigilant. Criminals are going to try to take advantage of this pandemic situation as much as possible. You can protect yourself by not giving out sensitive information, especially within unsolicited emails. Don’t click on links you’re not expecting and do everything in your power to protect all sensitive information.

network (VPN) in place to safeguard data that's traveling back and forth on your company's

network.

Most of the aforementioned attacks have been the result of malware applications loaded into

the POS system's memory.

important point to note here is that a second app must be running (in addition to the POS app),

This is why iOS has traditionally facilitated fewer attacks. Because iOS is only able to fully run one app at a time, these types of attacks rarely occur on Apple-made devices.

otherwise the attack can't occur.

Companies such as Verifone offer software that's designed to guarantee your customer's data is

never exposed to hackers.

These tools encrypt credit card information the second it's received on the POS device and once again when it's sent to the software's server. This means that the data is never vulnerable, regardless of where hackers might be installing malware.

install endpoint protection software on your device.

Employees can steal devices with POS software installed on them, or accidentally leave the device at the office or in a store, or lose the device. If devices are lost or stolen, anyone who then accesses the device and the software (especially if you didn't follow rule #2 above) will be able to view and steal customer records.

Systems that connect

to external networks are more susceptible to attacks from hackers

Consider keeping things internal and secure, use a corporate network to handle critical tasks like payment processing.

you'll want to comply with the Payment Card

Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) across all card readers, networks, routers, servers, online shopping carts, and even paper files. The PCI Security Standards Council suggests companies actively monitor and take inventory of IT assets and business processes in order to

detect any vulnerability.

In both Europe and the US, regulations are being released and revised to provide support to guests with disabilities.

With the increase in electronic distribution of hotel information and transactions, hotels are working to provide better information and service to guests with disabilities.

I can hear some of you now – what good can possibly come from creating an ‘association of associations’? Aren’t we just creating more overhead, more cost and more bureaucracy? In a word, no.

From my own perspective

I hate wasting our scarce

resources, and worse, wasting the resources of our members who volunteer their time to work for us

Other council member organization initiatives include a white paper authored by AH&LA, a payment technologies committee established by HEDNA, and the support by OpenTravel of needed XML specification changes as required by the industry.

thousands of companies worldwide provide hundreds of software applications to help hotels and hotel companies manage operations to provide better guest service.

three key technology issues that are having, and will continue to have, a direct strategic impact on the hospitality industry:

Search engine optimization is a great thin

PCI (payment card industry) complianceUnique identification numbers for hotelsSupport for guests with disabilities

‘holy grail’

y company has become critically important for the financial stability and market credibility of the hospitality industry.Members of the HTSIC have addressed this issue in a coordinated

Initiatives specific to distribution include the creation of standard room definitions and descriptions, guaranteeing accessible guest rooms and removing the accessible guest room from inventory when booked. HEDNA has worked on creating this vocabulary, and OpenTravel has revised its hotel schema, annotations and code list to reflect these changes.

And our biggest strength is our commitment to work together, to eliminate redundant work or conflicting positions, to be transparent and open in our dealings with each other, and to address the most important technological needs of the hospitality industry.

97 percent say that meetings deliver return on investment.

2013, employing 2.3 million Americans and generating $42 billion in tax revenue.

But the first CVB wasn’t established until 1896, in Detroit, Mich.

International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE), came into being in 1928. The Convention Industry Council (CIC) and Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) were founded in the 1950s.

Now people not only have individual personal and professional email accounts, they multitask, prospect, network and curate content on a variety of social and digital platforms.

It’s that the French Revolution began with a meeting on a tennis court.

Meetings catalyze change.

Among its benefits, touchless tech is more energy-efficient and can eliminate the need for paper or the increased usage of non-ecofriendly cleaners. 

due to the lack of guests, there was a decline in the use of chemicals from cleaners and a reduction in carbon emissions.

This included a “dramatic increase in the use of disposable utensils, packaging, etc.”, that some sustainability initiatives were canceled or put on hold, and that “stronger, more toxic” chemicals were being used for cleaning and sanitizing.

Some hotels, though, took the pandemic as an opportunity to switch to more eco-friendly cleaning options

2018, Hilton announced a whole host of environmental and social responsibility goals as part of its Travel with Purpose 2030 Goals

setting carbon reduction goals in line with the Paris Climate Accord, reducing water use by half, sending no leftover soap to landfills, and overall cutting its environmental impact in half by 2030.

However, that lack of guests allowed Hilton to start implementing other parts of their impact reduction plan, like having some of their hotels switch to using renewable energy. 

heir guests. Sustainability and eco-friendliness are more important for travelers and hotel guests than ever.

global travelers want to “travel more sustainably in the future,” and their 2019 Sustainable Travel Report highlighted that 70% of travelers are more likely to choose and book accommodations that are eco-friendly. 

Although current practices like using non-eco-friendly cleaning products and getting rid of unwanted waste may be cost-effective and save hotels money now, these and other findings show that travelers are willing to pay for hotels that go the extra mile for the planet, which will earn hotels loyalty.

LEED recertification is an important step in protecting your building asset. Recertification helps you maintain and improve your building while keeping your sustainability investment in place

Platinum 80+ points earned Gold 60-79 points earned Silver 50-59 points earned Certified 40-49 points earned

1. Ransomware:

hey present further ransomware opportunities to hackers by using computers to automate functions.

distributed denial of service, or DDoS

One of the largest data breaches in history was conducted through a third-party vendor when hackers stole data from 70 million credit cards by gaining access to a mega-retailer’s network through credentials belonging to an HVAC contractor.

2. Remote hacking through third-party vendors:

4. DDoS attacks on the hotel network:

3. Phishing scam targeting customers and hotels:

Train employees. Hotels should train employees to not open suspicious emails or links inside them as they may contain malware.

Statistics indicate that such incidents will become more frequent, so it is not a matter of if but when the next cyber attack will occur.

Integrate a managed SIEM. Hotels should bring on a managed security information and event management (SIEM) platform for their remote locations to be warned right away of cyber attacks. They may also want it for inside the perimeter if they lack the expertise and resources to properly use SIEM internally.

Maintain PCI compliance. The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) has put forth a set of stipulations, the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), in response to rapid PCI expansion. Hotels should make sure they are compliant with these regulations, which require businesses to send credit-card information in a secure environment, to prevent paying heavy fines and losing data, revenue, and customer trust.

Install antivirus on all devices. Hotels should ensure they have reliable anti-virus and anti-malware software installe

5. Theft of personal information over public Wi-Fi.

According to the FBI, the number of cyber threat occurrences quadrupled to 4,000 per day last year from 1,000 per day in 2015

The number of cybersecurity incidents worldwide increased 38 percent in 2015 from 2014, according to the Global State of Information Security Survey 2016 by PwC, CIO, and CSO.

In addition, there are large volumes of payment card transactions between restaurants, on-site shops, spas, parking, and the front-desk, ensuring there is plenty of customer data for a hacker to compromise.

Hotels are especially vulnerable to this type of attack where a type of malware disrupts access to a system until a ransom is paid. This is because they often use integrated POS systems

Hackers can break into hotels’ payment systems through a remote access point belonging to one of its vendors, so they should closely monitor third-party access to their networks