It seems that customers aren’t the only ones who enjoy the benefits of a delicious meal or pillow-top mattress at night. Sean Hoar and Christin McMeley of Davis Wright Tremaine say that the hospitality and food and beverage industries are alluring for cyberthieves too.
“Where data can be obtained and monetized, it will be stolen,” they write, and anyone who has ever tried to book a hotel in New York or go for a meal in San Francisco will tell you that credit cards are being thrown down quicker than the filet mignon to the grill. The authors note that it’s the “point of sale” systems that are particularly vulnerable to attack. Hackers install tools remotely on the systems that take the data from the magnetic strips of credit and debit cards during the transaction. This makes restaurants and hotels prime targets because they rely so heavily on these systems.
