In this article, we explore the importance of cyber security and the skills that should be taught to all employees in the hospitality and tourism industry to guarantee the protection of all the personal data of their customers.
Cybersecurity downfalls
In the hospitality and tourism industry, the weakest link is its employees. Handling data and using login credentials, a simple mistake can have a disastrous effect.
Actions that create a cybersecurity weakness include:
- Incorrectly shared passwords
- professional accounts linked to personal devices
The tourism and hospitality industry can tackle these security weaknesses by raising cybersecurity awareness and providing adequate training to ensure common mistakes never happen again.
Why regular cybersecurity training is crucial
Employees need to be trained and constantly informed about the correct procedures to be used. If cybersecurity is allowed to fall out of mind, mistakes creep back into the workplace that could lead to awful consequences for customers, employees and the hotel.
Network ecosystems with poor configuration and protection, coupled with incorrect usage policies and procedures, are an opportunity for cybercrime. For example, there have been instances where customers’ data was hacked through the Wi-Fi network of the hotel. Criminals were able to steal the personal data of hotel guests, including billing information and IDs.
Hotels must ensure they are investing in the configuration of excellent cybersecurity to avoid cyber-attacks.
Top tips for companies to use to minimise cyber-attacks:
- Use antivirus software and keep it up to date.
- Never open files or links in emails from unknown senders.
- Use a secure password.
- Never download information from suspicious sites.
- Be careful about the amount of information that is put on social networks and remove public profiles.
- Clear browser cookies frequently.
- Ensure that public Wi-Fi is secure.
- Never share payment details over the Internet and only on pages defined as HTTPS://.
Conducting security assessments to ensure guest safety
In addition to protecting customers’ personal data from cyber-attacks, hotels must ensure they are protecting devices.
To ensure cybersecurity, hotels should:
- Complete intrusion tests to determine the state of their systems and highlight vulnerabilities.
- Audit their security from an external attacker’s point of view.
- Carry out controlled system attacks to make an optimal security assessment.
OmniCyber conducts penetration testing for companies inside and outside the hotel and tourism industry. Pen testing is designed to find weaknesses and vulnerabilities in your company’s defences. A pen test exploits authentication issues, cross-site scripting problems, source code flaws, logic flaws, and insecure network configurations.
Book a call today for a free consultation and pen test quote!
