Cyber Attacks On The Rise Globally – Is Your Hotel Prepared?

Cyber threats are on the increase. Every business which has online presence or which maintains data on cloud, etc may be vulnerable to cyber attacks. Experts are calling for enhanced security measures and alertness in order to combat the growing problem of cyber security.

According to an alarming recent report as many 16 billion records, including credit card numbers, home addresses, phone numbers, and other highly sensitive information, have been exposed through data breaches since 2019. There has been a sharp rise in cyber breaches during the Covid-19 pandemic. This rise in cyber attacks could have been partly due to rising economic and financial concerns as the whole world went under lockdown.

There have been phishing attacks under the guise of pandemic news, along with identity theft, spread of malware and spyware, etc. As more and more of our data becomes digitized and more and more of our lives become dependent on technology, the opportunities for exploitation have grown exponentially. The more technologically advanced we are becoming the more vulnerable and risk-prone we seem to have become. Global cybercrime damages are estimated to cost up to $10.5 trillion annually by 2025!

Big businesses and companies are probably spending millions of dollars to enhance security, still it is not proving enough. According to some recent studies, 80% of senior IT and IT security leaders believe their organizations lack sufficient protection against cyberattacks.

Hospitality industry is not safe from this onslaught of cybercrime. Many hotels are guilty of taking cybersecurity lightly. This could prove to be a huge mistake. Cyber security can no longer be considered as optional investment, rather it has become an important need of the hour. The question each sensible hotelier needs to ask is how prepared is my hotel against the global spike in cyber attacks?