Deryck Mitchelson , Global CISO , Check Point

YOUR STAFF SHOULD NOT BE YOUR ONLY LINE OF DEFENCE , BUT THEY ARE AN IMPORTANT

BARRIER TO ENTRY . of the most extreme instances of breaches within the hospitality sector occurred when the Information Commissioner ’ s Office fined Marriott Hotels £ 18.4 million for a breach that affected up to 339 million guests and had gone undetected between 2014 – 2018 .

Business owners are confronting a multitude of threats , including phishing attacks , where employees unknowingly click on malicious links from a cybercriminal pretending to be a customer or a vendor . Point-of-sale attacks exploit vulnerabilities in hotel transaction systems , exposing guests ’ financial data . Wi- Fi infiltration , popularised by the Dark Hotel Group , involves the targeting of high profile individuals through hotel networks . Denialof-Service ( DDoS ) attacks , increasingly common , disrupt hotel operations , while a ransomware attack involves the stealing of customer data using malware , followed by threats to release the data on the dark web if pay demands are not met .

To safeguard against cyberthreats , industry leaders and hotel management are urged to implement the following measures :

1 . Regular security audits : You cannot rely on annual checks on your security posture . Conduct routine cybersecurity audits to identify vulnerabilities in real-time and assess the effectiveness of existing measures . Cyberthreats are constantly evolving , so a proactive approach can

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