Why Hotels Need to Tackle Down on Data Security

Data security is not a new thing that people are just beginning to learn about, but it is an increasing issue especially within the hospitality industry. There is so much information about data breaching in hotels that all industry professionals should be aware of. A data breach is an unintentional or intentional loss of information (Chen & Jai, 2019). Lots of hotels around the world have been aware of the threat that data breaches have on their companies and the challenges they can cause. According to Delman (2020), data breaches can take “an average of 197 days to discover a breach, and an average of 69 days to close it” (Delman, Herlands, Dorai, et al., Para. 1). While security breaches take a long time to be discovered, they also take a long time to be retracted from a hotels system, assuming that they are using all the correct types of technology.

The real question to ask is why are hackers targeting hotels? One of the main reasons, hotels are seen as such clear targets is because of the amount large hotel brands that occupy over 400 million guest per year. Delman mentions “That’s more than the entire population of the United States, and roughly a third of the population of China (Delman, et al., Para. 3). Continuing, hotels are seen as effortless targets is because of the large quantity of personal information that is being stored within the hotels computer systems. Large hotel brands for example, Marriott International and Hilton Worldwide are known for historically having less digital security then other large corporations like JP Morgan Co. and Google. Delman also claimed that about 9% of US consumers that have been guests in hotels have been involved in a data breach (Delman, et al., Para. 6). That was as of July 1^st, 2019 and that percentage will probably continue to increase especially when vacation season comes back around.

When it comes to data security in hotels, there are obviously going to be new solutions arising as technology becomes more advanced. Although as technology continues to advance, hotels are sometimes hesitant to stay up to date with the latest updates. After a data breach occurs and hotels are late to act on it, “the negative public image harms hotels’ reputation and raises consumers’ privacy concerns, as well as damages the relationship between hotels and their guests” (Chen & Jai, 2019). The main reason is due to the cost of digital security, it is actually very expensive and while hotels think they have the best version, there is another version out there that is even stronger. According to Nick Montera “Virtually all businesses that use computer systems are to some extent vulnerable to costly exposures associated with system breaches” (Montera, 2012). All hospitality companies look to keep their guests and their personal information safe, so most companies are willing to spend the money. With that in mind, hotels would benefit from the creation of multi-factor authentication especially big brands like Marriott International. The multi-factor authentication requires two or more security pins, passwords or even extra authentication from other devices (Delman, et al., Para. 8). Another solution that hotels could begin using to mitigate data security in hotels is to begin offering new careers related to data security. Delman (2020) explained that AirBnB designed a new position known as the Chief Trust Officer. Careers like this would handle the primary role of IT security and data privacy within a hotel. Overall, data security within hotels is a growing issue and hotels should begin to take action and tackle down on the different ways that their company can keep their hotel occupants safe and maintain loyalty between their customers.

References

Chen, H. S., & Jai, T.-M. (C.) (2019). Cyber alarm: Determining the impacts of hotel’s data  breach messages. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 82, 326–334.

Delman, M., Anusha, Herlands, A., Dorai, C., Vizard, M., Jennings, R., & Jennings, R. (2020, January 8).

Are Hotel Guests Safe From a Data Breach? Retrieved from https://securityboulevard.com/2020/01/are-hotel-guests-safe-from-a-data-breach/

Montera, N. (2012, May). Hospitality Industry Risks: Data Privacy and Security. Retrieved February 10, 2020.

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