Hoteliers need to be vigilant about cybersecurity in an industry that is constantly under attack. Cybercrime has been a major problem for many of the most prominent brands in the sector over the past few years. They are now all investigating and investing to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

Let’s look closer at cybersecurity in hotels. What are the most prevalent threats? And what can we do about them?

Phishing attacks  

Phishing is the act of sending or receiving emails that look authentic. It is used by criminals to convince recipients to share sensitive information. This scam is the most popular on the internet. It involves financial information and passwords.

This threat has become more sophisticated in recent years and targets those in authority. The goal of sending fake emails to colleagues is to hack into a user. These emails are often used to convince recipients to authorize transactions that are ordered from the top.

Ransomware  

Ransomware attacks that targeted businesses and countries around the globe were some of the most well-known. WannaCry ransomware was the latest and most dangerous. It took the information and held certain systems hostage. This attack was intended to make money from those who paid the required amount to unlock their data/systems.

You risk cybersecurity failures that could allow this type of attack to happen as a hotelier. This crime has been committed by hotels that paid over $17,000 in the past to allow guests to enter their rooms and to create electronic keys.

DDoS  

DDoS is another nasty attack that hotels around the globe are subject to.

You may have heard of it concerning the internet. It is also used to attack the many systems that hotels use. It is possible to hack into everyday items like security cameras and sprinkler systems. Then, whole computer systems could be brought down. Hotel cybersecurity should include a procedure to protect compromised systems in a DDoS attack.

Attacks on payment cards/point of sale  

The biggest threat to the entire hotel industry is the point-of-sale attack. They are not an attack on the hotel, but rather they are a third-party crime. This means they attack the vendor. This means that there may be a flaw in the system that has been discovered by human error.

Customers are often left with nothing, and the media is involved. This is bad news for hotels. The business could also be financially affected. MasterCard charging an unnamed institution $1.4 million, Visa $500,000.

DarkHotel hacking  

Are you unfamiliar with DarkHotel? Criminals use this relatively new term to target business guests via Wi-Fi in hotels.

The attackers use fake digital certificates to convince victims that downloading software is safe. In order to make this possible, criminals upload malicious software to a hotel server. This allows them to target specific guests. DarkHotel hacking first appeared in 2007. It was started via peer-to-peer networks and spearfishing scams. If guests are concerned about DarkHotel hackers, encourage them to use virtual private networks (VPN) if they intend on doing business with sensitive information.