Hotel technology and data security experts will share their expertise on the vexing problem of bank card data theft from hotels at a meeting of leading hotel technology experts in Berlin later this month.
Hotel Technology Next Generation (HTNG) just added a compelling new session on this topic to an already powerful agenda for its upcoming European members’ meeting.
As a leading global trade association for hotel technology, HTNG is helping its members take steps to make hotels less attractive to the hackers. According to a research report from Trustwave, hotels and resorts accounted for 38 percent of the victims of reported data security breaches in 2009. European hotels, despite the additional security provided by chip and PIN, are far from immune to these attacks.
The session, entitled “Fighting the Credit Card Thieves,” will address the specifics of this frightening development in detail: what is happening, how bad it is, how the thieves work, and what hoteliers can do to stop them. The panel of experts will share information about the nature of the breaches and what card associations are doing to reduce the attacks. They will also share tips on what hotels can do to protect their systems.
“We are looking forward to all of the sessions we have planned for our members, but I think this one could have the greatest immediate impact to the industry. It is part of the industry-leading role that HTNG is taking in joining with other industry associations to help hotels provide a more secure environment for using guest credit-card data,” said Douglas Rice, executive vice president and CEO of HTNG.
The team assembled for the hotel data security session includes:
- Joanne Laffey, senior compliance manager, Visa Europe
- Shane Balfe, technical manager, payment system security, Visa Europe
- Scott Lancaster, senior director, information security and technology compliance, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide
- Benjamin Hosack, director, Foregenix Ltd.
Attendees will gain a better understanding of how the attacks occur and what hotels can do to make themselves less vulnerable.
In addition to this session, other HTNG meeting topics are truly top-of-mind issues for hotel technologists. Key topics on the two-day agenda planned for this year’s event in Berlin include cloud computing, virtualization, sustainability, CRM, and new services available through application programming interfaces (APIs). Presenters include numerous leading hotel technologists who will share from their own experiences. Hoteliers and technology provides alike will see practical examples of how to efficiently develop and deploy a variety of hospitality technologies.
Immediately preceding the member’s meeting will be the second annual Hotel IT Directors’ Roundtable. This exclusive collaborative event for senior-level technology leaders is available at no charge to qualified individuals from the hotel community, providing an opportunity to share experiences and perspective on the greatest challenges facing their hotel IT teams. The Hotel IT Directors’ Roundtable convenes on Monday afternoon, 25 October, just prior to the HTNG Members’ Meeting, which runs from Monday evening through 27 October.