The number of users of the internet has inflated up to 4.72 billion as of today. Irrespective of the ease this has provided, the gradual increase in the use of the internet has undeniably created more opportunities for individuals to exploit this resource to harm others.
The hospitality industry is highly dependent on its relationship with its customers. An unavoidable factor in the industry is the collection of personal data to gather customer preferences in order to target and cater to their requirements. This positions the hospitality industry as a bank for highly-sensitive data of millions of travellers stored in the databases for extended periods.
Threats on the industry
Due to the varying complexity of malicious users and the remote access provided by the internet, software is the most prone to cyber-attacks. POS, PMS, CAS, and hotel accounting systems are the most commonly used software in the industry and are also the most susceptible to cyber-attacks. Research shows that 64% of cyber-attacks that occurred in the hospitality sector were on the internal network of hotels, 19% targeting e-commerce, while 17% were on POS. A breach of data through a cyber-attack could result in a massive impact on the industry.
In recent history, many cyber security breaches occurred in the systems of several prominent members of the hospitality industry. Information of up to 500 million guests was put at risk. The leaked information consisted of highly-sensitive data such as name, mailing address, phone number, email address, and passport numbers.
The Aftermath
Hotels will face the loss of customers’ trust along with widespread negative publicity. This aftermath could be fatal for the business. Due to this, the security of the hotel’s data and its customer’s data is of utmost importance to the hospitality industry. As a result, hotels have begun to increase the budget allocated for cyber security in order to minimise potential data breaches.
The hospitality industry embraced GDPR and PCI standards to ensure that the hotel systems that store customer data are competent to maintain their security. Protection of highly- sensitive data such as credit card details were given high priority.
Possible solutions
Protection of data is undoubtedly vital for the hospitality industry. Hotels will have to ensure that their software is equipped with maximum protection against exposures. Investments should be made to uplift security standards to provide premium security for data.
IDS Next provides you with the ideal solution for protecting your data. IDS Next’s FortuneNext 7.0 is an all-in-one hotel ERP for independent hotels, group and chain hotels, resorts, boutique hotels, clubs, and restaurants. IDS Next solutions are designed within the legal framework set by the GDPR. They are also certified with PA DSS and ISO 27001, which validates data security standards.
IDS’ cloud solutions consist of flexible deployment. It is hosted securely in Microsoft Azure Cloud, the most secure code based on proven technology around the globe. Azure provides information protection which configures policies to classify, label and protect data based on its sensitivity. It provides persistent protection to data regardless of where it is stored and who it is shared with. This will strengthen the overall security of the hotels’ data systems. These credentials will help hotels evaluate a suitable vendor in order to keep both their and their customers’ data safe.
Upholding the trust of the customers by ensuring the protection of their data is the chief responsibility of all hospitality organisations. IDS Next provides the ideal solutions to secure and ensure a positive bond with the customer by safeguarding their personal data.
Author
Nandika Udupihilla
Vice President & Country Head, Indian Ocean – Sales
Nandika is responsible for the Sales and Operations of the Indian Ocean Region, looking after Sri Lanka, Maldives, Seychelles and Mauritius. His years of expertise in IT and strategic management have helped contribute to streamlining the technological needs of IDS Next's global clients.