The security of data in a hotel and luxury institutions

The security of data in a hotel and luxury institutions

Information technology has become an essential aspect of economic growth and social development. It has also led to many innovations as computers have increased the speed people use to process information. Information technology has changed the way the hotel industry carries out its operations. With technology, the hotels have improved performance through enhanced financial performance, thus giving most of them a competitive advantage. However, the different applications used in these institutions provide potential data security threats. Information vulnerability is one such threat. About 55% of all credit card breaches occur in hotels and luxury institutions. The primary purpose of this report is to highlight the potential risks to customers’ data in the hotel industry and the importance of confidentiality.

A data breach can be defined as the failure of an entity to protect its information from authorized access. The hotel industry collects a lot of customers’ personal information, and this acts as a valuable resource and asset to a company. Information technology has enabled hotels to document customers’ data easily. However, the use of electronics to collect data is faced with various security problems. Any electronically transmitted or stored information faces that threat of loss of data. The problems can arise from hardware or software malfunctions or intentional and unintentional authorized access. The data is often used for identity theft or to commit crimes. Hotels are more vulnerable to data security breaches due to the main reasons. Firstly, hotels and luxury are an easy target due to the critical information and the vast amount of data that they collect. Over the years, many hotels have experienced a data breach, as shown in Table 1.

Similarly, the hotel industry carries out many financial transactions each day, and some hotels like Hyatt Hotels Corporation have been affected more than once. Most hotels are a target of malware-related breaches. Well-known hotels have had their security systems hacked and customer’s credit card details stolen. If a hotel lacks proper security control, then a hacker can access customer information as they use credit cards during payment. A data breach will not only affect the customer, but the company will also experience financial losses and damage to its reputation.

Similarly, the high staff turnover in hotels makes the hotel industry more vulnerable to data breaches. There is the staff who work seasonally as they can either move on or be transferred after a few months. Having staff in different locations and frequent movement makes it difficult to have a well-trained staff. Thus only a single untrained staff is enough to create a data breach to the system.

Year

Hotel

2020

Marriott International

2020

MGM Resorts International

2019

Choice Hotels International

2018

Marriott International

2018

Huazhu Hotels Group

2017

Hilton

2017

Hyatt Hotels Corporation

2107

Hyatt Centric The Loop Chicago

2017

Sabre Hospitalaity Solutins

2017

Galt House Hotel

2017

InterContinental Hotels Group

2015

Hyatt Hotels Corporation

However, there are practices that hotels can employ to ensure data security. First, it is essential always to encrypt any information involving card payment. Similarly, a hotel should carry out regular and continuous training to ensure that all its staff is conversant with the data security systems and laws. This also helps the company in adhering to the relevant data security regulations. Similarly, the company should use the principle of least privileges to reduce access to personal information. Finally, each hotel industry should take data security seriously and have cyber-security measures such as anti-malware, traffic-filtering software, and firewalls.

Failure to enforce data security measures can negatively affect hospitality companies. It can result in loss of customer trust, damaged reputation, and financial losses. Thus every hotel or luxury institution needs to consider ways of protecting customers’ sensitive data to ensure confidentiality.