Orthus Research Identifies Hospitality Sector As The New Target Of Choice For Cyber Criminals

LONDON, United Kingdom, - February 21, 2011- Orthus Limited today released the results of an information security survey conducted of one hundred (100) hospitality businesses operating in the United Kingdom.
By: Orthus PR
 
Feb. 21, 2011 - PRLog -- The survey sought to quantify the number and type of data breaches experienced by the businesses. The findings showed that 67% of the respondents had experienced data breaches in the last 12 months.  

The survey results also indicated:
•   Of the respondents breached, 72% were identified as (PCI DSS) Level 4 Merchants
•   Of the breaches reported 58% were attributed to external attacks and 42% were attributed to internal attacks
•   Key loggers and memory sticks were the used to remove data in over 50% of the internal attacks identified
•   The theft of hardcopy (credit card) data was identified in over 15% of the breaches reported
•   The unauthorised remote access to data bases was indentified in 47% of external attacks

The results not only support other surveys showing significant increases in data breaches in this market sector, they also clarify how the attacks are taking place. Given the majority of the breaches identified were from external sources clearly the results indicate that this industry is being targeted. (http://www.orthusintel.com)  

“One of the primary reasons that the industry is fast becoming a favourite target for hackers is the vast amount of credit card data it processes, transmits and stores across their networks” says Orthus Data Compliance Specialist, Courtney Bryan.  

“Hotels specifically with their need to conduct charge backs or maintain customer data in their systems amass a huge amount of sensitive credit card data across their networks. While other industries subscribe to the “less is more” approach continually cleanse their networks of card data – this approach is not operationally achievable in the hospitality sector. This and the fact that the hospitality industry is not known for stringent network security due to its penchant for outsourcing their ICT infrastructures has resulted in the hacking community’s recent recognition of the easy target they are” says Bryan.

For more information or a copy of survey contact cathy.jacobs@orthus.com

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Orthus is a leading provider of Information Security, Business Continuity, and Data Compliance services, with over 100,000 supported systems globally. Orthus provides a range of simple packaged solutions to identify, minimise and manage security, compliance and business continuity gaps before incidents escalate.
These services are delivered by Orthus resilient infrastructure and supported by expert consultants backed up by unsurpassed service level guarantees and full cost coverage for data breaches, compliance failures and downtime. This ensures incidents are caught before they become major problems and customers can continue with Business as Usual, Guaranteed at a low predicable cost. For more information, please visit http://www.orthusintel.com
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