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surprising 74% of hotels do not have proper protection measures in place

Destroy information you no longer needed.

Provide on-going staff training

Continuously update crisis plans

Implement a mobile security policy.

A Ponemon report shows that 63% of organizations have had a data breach as a result of employees using their mobile devices to access the company’s sensitive and confidential information.

Create a document destruction schedule.

Despite the fact that 86% of companies have document destruction procedures in place, only 40% of businesses have a system followed by employees.

With technology changing hotel operating systems, it is important for the hotel industry to re-visit information security procedure and continuously educate themselves on data security protocols.

In the future, Mangal says that hotel operators may want to invest in biometric technology and to use fingerprints or facial scans to restrict access to data.

Mangal says that hotels are unlikely to hire more IT professionals directly but that they will continue to contract with firms that specialize in cyber security. “Indirectly, there is a growing need for specialists and IT or tech professionals” to upgrade hotels’ data security and to train employees, she says.

The trust that organizations place in their workforce can leave them vulnerable to malicious insiders, who often use particular methods to hide their illicit activities.

Current technology allows seamless collaboration, but also allows the organization's sensitive information to be easily removed from the organization. A complete understanding of critical assets (both physical and logical) is invaluable in defending against attackers who will often target the organization's critical assets.

Critical assets can be both physical and logical and can include facilities, systems, technology, and people. An often-overlooked aspect of critical assets is intellectual property.

Insider Threat Incident Response Plan:

Organization-wide Participation:

versight of Program Compliance and Effectiveness:

Confidential Reporting Mechanisms and Procedures:

Formalized and Defined Program:

ommunication of Insider Threat Events:

Protection of Employees' Civil Liberties and Rights:

Policies, Procedures, and Practices that support the InTP:

Data Collection and Analysis Techniques and Practices:

Prevention, Detection, and Response Infrastructure:

Insider Threat Practices Related to Trusted Business Partners:

Insider Threat Integration with Enterprise Risk Management:

Organizations should ensure policies and controls provide: concise and coherent documentation, including reasoning behind the policy, where applicable consistent and regular employee training on the policies and their justification, implementation, and enforcement Organizations should be particularly clear on policies regarding acceptable use and disclosure of the organization's systems, information, and resources use of privileged or administrator accounts ownership of information created as a work product evaluation of employee performance, including requirements for promotion and financial bonuses processes and procedures for addressing employee grievances

wareness training for the unintentional insider threat should encourage employees to identify potential actions or ways of thinking that could lead to an unintentional event, including level of risk tolerance--someone willing to take more risks than the norm attempts at multi-tasking--individuals who multi-task may be more likely to make mistakes large amounts of personal or proprietary information shared on social media lack of attention to detail

Our intent was to develop a single definition for insider threat that covers malicious and non-malicious (unintentional) insider threats covers cyber and physical impacts applies to both government and industry is clear, concise, consistent with existing definitions of 'threat', and broad enough to cover all insider threats

Hotels need to partner with an experienced physical security provider, and ensure that the entire staff understands the need to keep security top of mind - always. 

Maintain security-minded customer service  Review key card access  Establish evergreen background screening protocol  Control after-hours access  Assess location and local crime statistics  Train security officers to welcome and protect  Bolster public/private initiatives  Maintain emergency response plans  Commit to ongoing training

The open environment fostered by hotels is welcoming to guests and visitors but, unfortunately, also creates vulnerabilities that must be addressed. Ensuring that all public spaces are continually monitored by staff and security personnel is crucial in maintaining a hospitable environment. 

The growing concern over sustainability in the business sector led to developments in innovative environment friendly processes and tools collectively called green technology

Green technology enables the eco-friendly practices of business firms.

The concept of sustainability emerged in the field of natural sciences in recognition of the scarcity of natural resources and the need to rationalize usage to secure sufficient resources for future generations (Kirk, 1995).

The concern of sustainability is ensuring the continuation of the well-being of people and protection of the environment from wasteful use or destructive activities.

The implementation of sustainability plans involves innovative methods and tools accessible to hotels and responsive to the multi-dimensional issues including impact of operations on the environment experienced by hotels. Green technology understood as eco-friendly tools and processes or environment friendly products support the successful implementation of sustainability plans in the hospitality industry.

1.      Minimized pollution and rational energy and water consumption. 2.      Respect for culture and tradition. 3.      Community involvement in the hospitality economy. 4.     Consideration of quality instead of quantity in terms of the visitors to tourist destinations. 5.      Economic benefits redound to the community. (Robertson, 2007)

In relation to environmental sustainability, there are also considerations for inclusion into the sustainability plan of hotels to ensure that they meet environmental compliance (Butler, 2008)

However, even if sustainability planning is a tedious task, the expected outcomes are long-term and compelling because this determines the continuity or viability of hotels, firms whose future survival depends on sustainability (Butler, 2008).

1.      Scale and distribution of operations in a given area. 2.      Hotel demand and means of alleviating the negative effects. 3.      Protection of key assets historic buildings, townscape or coastline. 4.     Contribution to other related areas such as economic development and cultural preservation. (Sharma, 2004)

Since the sustainability of hotels spans multidimensional aspects, the contribution of hotels to other areas such as employment or job creation also supports its sustainability.

Green technology received recognition as an aspect of human society and therefore part of sustainability. In a sustainability panel of representatives from the hospitality industry, sustainability as a strategy meant addressing today’s needs without adversely affecting tomorrow’s needs (Knowles, 2008).

Examples of product enhancement are energy saving appliances and fixtures such as fluorescent instead of incandescent lights or intelligent air conditioning systems that regulate room temperature depending on the presence of its occupant

The extent of reduction of waste varies since this could range from minimal to significant decrease in the volume of waste generated, capacity of landfills, and transportation needs. By benefiting the environment, economic benefits also accrue. (Billatos & Basaly, 1997)

dopting waste management processes and tools accrues financial, economic, and environmental benefits for hotels.

Key to these activities is the ability to harness the full functional value of materials and product components at the least possible additional processing cost for recovery and reuse. (Billatos & Basaly, 1997)

First is design of recycling or the cost-effective manner of recovering and reusing materials. The design provides support during the disposal stage to ensure low added cost for recovery. Second is design for disassembly encompassing the methods enabling the minimization of cost in segregating reusable materials. This leads to savings that accumulate when design interventions are made during the stages of material selection and assembly that already separates reusable materials

Third is toxics management comprised of the activities of controlling and eliminating toxic materials that are innate components of products such as cadmium or lead. Excessive levels of these toxic materials are hazards to health and the environment. (Billatos & Basaly, 1997)

Environmental benefits include reduced accumulation of waste and lesser risk of soil, water and air contamination of toxic production. (Billatos & Basaly, 1997)

Pollution prevention involves the elimination of processes in manufacturing that cause pollution. This requires change by redesigning the production process in a manner that prevents the accumulation of harmful by-products or the redesign of the finished products so there would be no use for processes that result in hazardous by-products. The prevention of pollution in production design exacts capital investments but the cost of redesign is deemed less when compared to the cumulative cost of controlling pollution, which would likely increase with new regulations imposing more active methods of pollution control. (Billatos & Basaly, 1997)

Green technology as a process and a collection of tools addresses four objectives, which are a) waste reduction, b) materials management, c) pollution prevention, and d) product enhancement (Billatos & Basaly, 1997). There are processes and tools specifically targeting any one, some or all of these objectives so that the appropriate choice depends on the priority of hotels.

The technological development of product enhancement innovations is escalating and promise greater functions for business establishments. (Billatos & Basaly, 1997)

Utilizing product enhancement technologies influence the sustainability of hotels in terms of savings on operating cost, lesser pollution and waste in the built environment, and value creation for environmental conscious customers (Yaw, 2005).

Overall, green technology supports the sustainability of hotels by decreasing a wide range of economic and non-economic costs to support the financial viability of hotels in the long-term and conserving the natural environment on which the hospitality industry depends for the continuity of business. By adopting green technology, hotels gain processes and tools it can use to secure its sustainability.

A range of energy saving technologies is available to the hotel industry. These technologies could make hotels green buildings by targeting various areas for energy saving.

One is electric heating pumps as alternatives to conventional electric boilers or condensing/non-condensing boilers requiring gas to run. The use of this green technology by a hotel in Hong Kong with a rooftop swimming pool showed a reduction in energy consumption by 26.5-32.5 MWh and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 12,000 kg. When computed over a ten-year period, using this technology would save the hotel HK$226,400 in energy cost savings. The hotel can earn back the cost of adopting this technology in two years. (Chan & Lam, 2003)

Building designs able to harness alternative sources of energy comprise green technologies that support the sustainability of hotels. Solar panels continue to gain function in energy saving for hotels (“Building in a green edge,” 2008) although the payback period is longer than expected, the energy saving potential extends to the long-term. The use of building designs that harness natural light such as skylight atriums that do not use artificial lighting during the day are also green alternatives for hotels (Kirby, 2009).

Another direction of green technology for the kitchen is the reuse of exhaust heat from the kitchen by harnessing the heat from the exhaust or condensing hot air to produce steam for use in cooking. This is a means of recycling energy. However, this involves the integration of the design in the structure of the kitchen or the building itself, which means greater investment. (Higgins, 2008) Nevertheless, further innovations in this technology could enhance practical value for hotels.

In other areas of hotels such as rooms and bathrooms, e-sensor systems and LED lights comprise green technology options. E-sensor systems apply to different systems such as lighting and air conditioning. The e-sensors have the capability to change automatically the lighting or air conditioning settings depending on the area of the room where there are people or temperature changes in the room. LED lights offer greater energy savings than fluorescent lights so this represents the third generation in lighting technology. (Kirby, 2008) Systems thinking in energy management comprise a promising green technology in saving on energy costs (Sobieski, 2008).These technologies are widely available and accessible to different hotels. The energy saving is experienced in the short term and the payback period is shorted. The problem with this is hotel guests tampering with the system leading to added cost for repairs. This means that awareness and information dissemination are important for the effectiveness of these technologies.

Another green technology for rooms is the biodegradable key cards. These have the same life span as the conventional key cards except that these are biodegradable or recyclable. (Gale, 2009) These require little cost with high environmental impact.

This involves the placement of water treatment plants that recycle water used in baths for flushing in toilets. (Edwards, 2004) These comprise viable and accessible water conservation practices that would contribute savings on the cost of water to rationalize the consumption of water as a scarce resource.

One is the conscious involvement of hotels in the protection of the environment since the nature of the business of the hospitality industry and the closely connected industries such as tourism heavily rely on the soundness of the natural and socio-cultural environment for business

The other is the investment in environment protection in a manner that secures economic and financial as well as a range of non-monetary benefits for hotels in the long-term (Vermillion, 2008).

Energy consumption is also a benchmark of the eco-friendliness of hotels

The water conserving technologies provide the process and tools for hotels to achieve this benchmark.

Waste and pollution management are also benchmarks of the ecological involvement of hotels.

Green technology takes the role as an enabling process and tool for hotels to become sustainable.

With hotels competing to maintain its customer base and pull customers to shift to the hotel’s services, green technology could become an enabler for hotels to become competitive.

Investing in green technology enables hotels to significantly cutback on operating cost. This enables hotels a wider profitability margin and room to offer promotional prices to attract more customers (Jones, 2002).

Green technology has taken a central role in the sustainability of hotels. The concept of sustainability of hotels involves the aspects of environmental protection and business viability.

The use of green technology also contributes to the viability of business firms in terms of financial standing and non-financial competencies in the long-term. Going green attracts the niche market of environment enthusiasts that contribute to sales. Using the range of green technologies available would also result in savings from operating costs in the long-term, which increases the profit of hotels and gives them flexibility to invest in marketing activities.

It is a sound strategy for hotels to consider green technology as a process and a collection of tools in support of sustainability goals.

Breaches undermine hospitality brands’ reputations and erode customer trust. Eighty-one percent of consumers will stop engaging with a brand after a breach, according to a 2019 study.

When it comes to cybersecurity, companies today have two options: Defend the fort or devalue the data. The former is the more traditional approach. By strengthening the digital “walls” around your data — via firewalls, intrusion detection, 24/7 monitoring and other security protections — the defend-the-fort approach works to keep attackers from accessing your systems at all.

However, one of the biggest vulnerabilities may be on the hotel grounds themselves.

hotels have multiple point of sale (POS) terminals across different locations, from the front desk to restaurants, all of which are connected to each other. If a POS device is not properly secured, attackers can use malware or other attack vectors to steal clear-text credit card numbers and other data.

POS attacks remain one of the most common causes of data breaches in accommodations and food services.

Guests may share their credit card numbers with the hotel in advance via a booking app or website, opening up the possibility of web-based attacks. Loyalty programs are another source of online vulnerability, with an estimated $1 billion a year lost to account fraud and related crimes.

One important and underutilized aspect of cyberdefense is employee training.

Make sure your employees use strong passwords and know how to spot fraud and spear phishing attacks. You may also want to limit employee access to confidential data, so if an account gets hacked, private guest information doesn’t go with it

You should also make sure your software is up to date with all security patches, as attackers often exploit known weaknesses in programs. Isolating POS devices from the rest of the network can also limit the damage from malware infections at that entry point.

it’s unlikely that even the strongest digital “walls'' will prevent all incursions. Defenses are important, but the ever-changing nature of technology means that new, hard-to-catch vulnerabilities will pop up all the time.

important to devalue your data, rendering it unusable to attackers who gain access to your systems. One way to do this is to implement point-to-point encryption (P2PE) by encrypting payment information from the moment it enters your network at the POS

Encrypted data is unintelligible to anyone who doesn’t have the right digital key. Implementing P2PE is the only way to ensure that clear-text payment data doesn’t fall into the hands of attackers targeting POS systems with malware.

Data that’s stored for the long term, like passport information or credit card numbers saved to a loyalty program, can also be devalued through tokenization. Data that’s tokenized gets replaced with an alphanumeric pseudonym, so the actual sensitive information isn’t stored on your servers. This method helps secure guest information beyond the initial transaction at the POS.

Hotels that reckon with their security vulnerabilities now will protect themselves from fines and other fallout from data breaches as business rebounds. They’ll also build deeper, more trusting relationships with customers by keeping their personal information secure. By strengthening security protections and devaluing their data, hotels can set themselves up for a brighter future. 

About two-thirds of these breaches were attacks on corporate servers, which often store guest information and communicate with on-site property management systems.

The design protects data moving within this environment, and it prevents user access to the various systems and services.

“Zero trust principles mean access is not granted to devices or user accounts based solely on their physical or network location or who owns them. Instead, authentication and authorization of both subject and device are required before users can access a network’s resources

Security officers can prevent hotels from incurring property damage, particularly if officers are patrolling the hotel’s grounds. They can also assist in incidents involving guests damaging their rooms.

In addition, the presence of security officers at a hotel can make guests and employees feel safer and more at ease. Many hotel guests are in an unfamiliar location, and this sense of security can increase their satisfaction with the hotel.

Security officers on the premises of a hotel can react appropriately and rapidly when emergencies occur. In the case of a fire, they can help evacuate guests and maintain order. In a shooting or other act of violence, they can stop the perpetrator and protect guests and staff from danger. They can also provide valuable assistance and information to law enforcement when they arrive on the scene.

Hotel guests may occasionally become unruly or intoxicated, particularly in hotels with bars. Security officers follow hotel policy for dealing with these guests by escorting them either off of the premises or to a taxi, or detaining them for the police as appropriate. They can also escort trespassers and loiterers off the premises. In addition, security officers can safely help staff and guests to their vehicles upon request if they feel unsafe.

In today’s world of cloud computing and ubiquitous screens, these protections are horribly inadequate

Utilising the capacity and techniques perfected in the Green Hospitality Award and greenbusiness.ie project, the National Waste Prevention Programme is working with healthcare providers to look at water and energy use and waste production, with a special emphasis on food waste. By investigating areas where efficiencies can be made, often through simple "no" and low cost procedures, real savings can be generated for hospitals.

Management must maintain effective internal control over financial reporting to protect owners and other relevant stakeholders. A number of standards related to a company’s control activities are listed by GAAP, and auditors are charged with evaluating internal control on engagements with publicly traded clients. Because cash transactions are prevalent throughout the hospitality industry, segregation of duties is a critical part of efforts to prevent liquid assets from misappropriation

Not all cash inflows are recorded as revenue and some are actually carried as current liabilities on the balance sheet.

Staying at a hotel or buying a timeshare unit requires some form of upfront payment by consumers and a potential refund when criteria are met. Tips are sometimes aggregated by restaurants and similar establishments and then distributed to employees. Whether transactions are completed by cash, check or credit, hospitality companies must record revenue only when it is appropriate.

Vacation ownership interests, contract receivables and resort construction projects are among the line items that require special accounting treatment for timeshare companies.

Most timeshare companies sell their units or points via financing agreements, and accounting for mortgages requires a record of accrued interest, advance payments and other related events

Timeshare transactions are among the most complicated among all of the recordable events in the hospitality industry.

Taking a few extra seconds to book directly with a hotel or a trusted travel agent can save time and money in the long run, and lead to a better travel experience overall.”

constant flow of new companies entering the online travel market—suggests we need to do more to protect consumers.

AHLA encourages consumers to book directly through the hotel website or mobile app

His company assists with the process by providing a streamlined way to equip first responders with your hotel’s up-to-date floor plans, as well as other considerations.

“We provide a preplan program where we make everything a responder would need available to them ahead of time,” Nardi said. “With planning, both employees and responders won’t be operating on trial and error but reality.”

RealView provides solutions such as digital floor plans, fire protection information, protocol for ingress and egress and any particulars regarding persons in need of special assistance. This information can be accessed using portable tablets or at designated security stations, is updated remotely and is shareable digitally with first responders.

before they arrive on the scene,”

This information is crucial because it can also protect your hotel from a liability standpoint.

“The front-end policies you have will protect you in the moment and in the end,” Parafinczuk said. ““Any break in the chain is a liability. It’s a minefield.”

The greatest barrier to improving a hotel’s security is fear of hampering the guest experience.

4 Proactive Safety Tips

1. Identify Your Guests

Hotels struggle with tracking guests on property.

supply event attendees with wristbands or badges,

2. Make Information Available

According to Nardi, some hotels are concerned about making floor plans and other information public knowledge because it could give a bad actor the information they need to harm guests or damage property.

3. Respond Immediately

Parafinczuk said it took six minutes for authorities to respond to the deadly shooting at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay in 2017, and they were hampered by a lack of information on arrival.

4. Document and Report

operators are still not in the clear until they document and disclose every aspect of the event internally.

These breaches can also be costly, with the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) fining Marriott $23.8 million for the Starwood breach.

Today, close to 50% of all bookings happen through online travel agencies or online channels, with the share of offline bookings dropping every year.

For hotels, the information is exchanged between the payment gateway, the OTA, the intermediary and its central reservations system (CRS

These multiple data exchanges among partners leave the data that much more susceptible to breaches

, as not all providers have the same security standards.

First, they should reduce the temptation to focus on standalone point solutions

Instead, they should look at technology providers that help in securing the entire data value chain by focusing on having a security framework that stops data from moving outside of the country (which is where it is typically misused

Second, hotels should know the storage practices and policies of all providers, insisting on a zero percent storage rate to reduce the chance of personal data getting expos

Similarly, hotels should make sure that partners do not store any credit card information locally, which will reduce the risk of exposure

lso, with most companies using some form of cloud infrastructure, hotels should know the structure used by any partner (private, hybrid, public) as well as what protections are in place

They will also be taking an important step in protecting their brand identity, as brand will be essential as the recovery from the COVID-19 fallout continues

Restaurateurs are not technology experts.

The cost of cybercrime is on the rise around the globe.

Stealing our personal and payment information is something cybercriminals do over breakfast.

For the global economy, cybercrime is one of the greatest collective threats of our time.

It might come as a surprise to many that almost all of the headline-grabbing payment card data breaches we’ve seen over the past few years were entirely preventable.

Most breaches involving credit card data have been neither sophisticated nor “new.”

A study by Verizon stated that 99 percent of breaches in 2014 were caused by known vulnerabilities with fixable patches.

Strong security protection principles that involve people, process and technology all working together in an atmosphere that prioritizes data security are vital for all of us to protect ourselves, our families and our companies.

So what actions can we take today to protect ourselves and our customers? For starters, many companies need to change the way they view security and make it a 24/7 priority. Data security must be deeply ingrained into an organization’s culture, not layered like frosting on a cake but baked in from the start.

n many cases, it is the employees themselves who fall into errors that expose the security of the hotel and the privacy of their clients through a lack of cyber security. Incorrectly shared passwords, professional accounts that link to personal devices or the dissemination of internal company information are some of the mistakes employees make. In order to correct these errors and ensure that they do not happen again, training and awareness-raising are the keys.

Employees must be informed at all times about the correct practices to be followed, thus avoiding making mistakes that in most cases have terrible consequences, both for the hotel and for the customers themselves.

For the peace of mind of the guests, the hotels should complete constant intrusion tests to evaluate the state of the systems, auditing their security from the point of view of possible external attacks. In order to make an optimal security assessment, it is best to carry out controlled attacks on the systems.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) offers cybersecurity guidelines for best practices to manage cyber risk. These include identify, protect, detect, respond and recover. Another resource is the NCSA’s national program, CyberSecure My Business.

Firewall Often referred to as a company's "first line of defense," a firewall is a security control that filters and screens network traffic entering and exiting your corporate network.

People can rely on the password manager to create and store dozens of passwords in an encrypted database without having to remember them.

Password managers are quite helpful, and some are even free.

store the first part of sensitive site passwords

but keep the last few digits memorized and fill them manually.

This way, if there is ever a compromise of the password database, hackers don't have those full passwords.

You should also consider implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA). MFA authentication uses more than one thing or "factor" to log you in

, biometrics is part of this last category

SPAM & Malware filters screen email for unwanted and dangerous elements, blocking them before they ever reach your users.

In the world of cybersecurity, there's a phrase, "humans are the weakest link." An employee who accidentally clicks on the wrong link or email attachment can put in motion a chain of events that results in a cyber breach. Security awareness training is an anti-phishing tactic all organizations should employ.

RDP access must be protected by a VPN connection.

reduce the risk of getting hacked is to ensure your systems and software are updated regularly, or "patched.

patching shouldn't end with the operating system. Your patch program should also look to patch all other applications running on your systems

regardless of the security tools implemented to prevent a data breach, you should plan for a compromise occurring.  

That's where 24/7/365 network and endpoint monitoring comes in

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.