Cyber Crime Wave Rampant In Hotel Industry

Hotel industry set for 'cyber crime wave'

Hospitality is the next big growth industry for cyber crooks, data security experts have warned.

The hotel industry has long been seen as a soft target especially through malware intrusion attacks.

In the last week both Hilton and Starwood confirmed data breaches at multiple hotel locations, where payment card information such as card numbers, security codes and expiration dates were accessed.

Mandarin Oriental, Trump Hotels and White Lodging have all been hit this year.

"The reality is the sector as a whole is dealing with a cyber crime wave," said Tom Kellermann, chief cyber security officer at software firm Trend Micro.

"Customers should be very concerned because in general the industry has insufficiently invested in cyber security."

In all the attacks, malware infected hotel point of sale terminals in hotel restaurants and retail units, often sitting inside systems unnoticed for many months.

Kellermann says only Marriott has taken sufficient measures to protect guests' credit card security.

Stuart Poole-Robb, CEO of cyber security consultants KCS Group says hotels are 'behind on the issue.'

"IT security is only just catching up. Hoteliers don't take much notice of hackers sitting in their lounges hacking guests' Wi-Fi. Vulnerable hotels are Sheraton, Hyatt and Ritz-Carlton. They could all do more than they have done thus far. The less well known hotel groups, second division so to speak, in the major capitals are in an even worse state," Poole-Robb warned.