Luke Irwin, Copywriter at GRC International Group Plc and a finalist in the Cyber Writer category in the Security Serious Unsung Heroes Awards 2019.
The hospitality sector has been clamouring for technological innovation recently, with organisations eager to find novel ways to improve the customer experience.You might have heard about Connie, a Watson-enabled robot concierge that’s been introduced at the Hilton in McLean, Virginia. But that’s just one example of cutting-edge technology sweeping the hotel industry, with many organisations leveraging IoT (Internet of Things) and other ‘smart’ tech to give customers a taste of the future.
However, there’s a growing perception that all this gadgetry is a distraction from the fundamentals of the hotel business: ensuring that guests’ privacy is intact and their information is secure.
Focus on security
Security and privacy are huge issues. Data breaches hit the headlines practically every day, and privacy concerns, such as those at Facebook and Amazon, have caused customers to turn away from services or at least take a keener interest in the way organisations use their information.
It therefore makes sense that organisations plough whatever resources they have into addressing these concerns. This is particularly true for the hotel industry, which is one of the worst-affected by cyber crime and data breaches.
Crooks target hotels because they store large volumes of data, including names, addresses and payment information, and process the majority of transactions through POS (point-of-sale) machines, which are susceptible to malware.
Marriott’s 2018 data breach, which affected 383 million customers, was the latest in a long line of high-profile hotel breaches, following incidents at Radisson, Huazhu, Hilton and Hyatt.
Meanwhil ..
Support the originator by clicking the read the rest link below.
