“Companies want to facilitate anywhere, anytime access through our devices; yet the adoption of technology has occurred faster than our willingness to secure it”
complaint is made by an individual who has been affected, do authorities start to take action.”
TECH REVOLUTION As we enter what many are calling the ‘fourth industrial revolution’, or ‘industry 4.0’ – char- acterised by the digital economy with the intensive digitisation of consumption and production of goods and services, combined with the rise of the Internet of Things, where devices talk to one another – businesses glob- ally are seeing a proliferation of risk. “What’s also different today is that bil-
lions of us have a mobile phone and, increas- ingly, a smart one,” says Kent Purdy, solu- tions marketing manager at Micro Focus, a multinational IT firm. “Companies want to facilitate anywhere, anytime access, to anything from anyone, through our devices. Yet the adoption of technology has occurred faster than our willingness to secure it.” Travel services are also now becoming
more global. The industry has historically been highly regional, for example, in the limited scope of each global distribution system. Data once locked in unique systems is becoming aggregated globally, and this integration creates potential points of attack. “One of the areas of focus is the need to continually upgrade systems that are central to the travel booking process,” says Kathy
Orner, chief information security officer at Carlson Wagonlit Travel. The travel industry as a whole could
certainly do with working on a secure in- formation exchange protocol where the end suppliers – the airline, the hotel, the ground transport provider and so on – are all able to work on a secure platform for encrypted information exchange, working alongside the travel buyer. “Different suppliers within the industry
are all at different levels of security and this causes vulnerability within the value chain, leading to an increased risk in cyber breaches,” says Ali Hussain, head of group strategy at the ATPI Group.
Blockchain technology, the computer
network underpinning Bitcoin, the virtual currency, has been touted as a way of achieving this. This would provide a single, secure, transparent global ledger used by travel companies. You could then track pay- ments and settle them in multiple countries and currencies. One travel company in Australia, Webjet,
has built a blockchain proof-of-concept solution with Microsoft. The online travel service claims to be the first in the world to do so. But this is a long way off from being an industry-wide solution. So watch this space.
THREAT TO DATA The most prominent threats buyers should be aware of are those to personal and financial data. Increasing profits have fuelled the development of the cy- bercriminal infrastructure – for example, dark-web marketplaces. You can now buy access to someone’s
mobile phone for tens of pounds sterling on the dark web. “These provide relatively low-risk environments in which criminals can anonymously monetise stolen data,” says Reys. It doesn’t help that travel data is an especially fruitful source of information – revealing personal, credit card, passport,
Calculating risk
• The proliferation of connected devices being used beyond the corporate network is a growing issue.
• Data security should no longer be the domain of a single department or executive in an IT department – it must be a focus for the whole organisation.
112 BBT January/February 2017
• Cybersecurity needs to evolve as fast as the latest software, hardware and apps travellers are using.
• Security is a culture and needs a sustained effort in terms of building awareness.
• A cyberattack is not just a data breach – corporate reputation is at risk. Many
companies report a loss of image and brand value.
• Airports, hotels, restaurants and cafes are all hotspots for cybercrime. A hotel business centre can often be less secure than a public internet café.
• Geography can be unimportant –
cybercriminals are everywhere. You can be compromised in Lima or Las Vegas, Taipei or Tirana.
• Public wifi networks are cropping up in new spaces - aircraft, public parks, high streets and trains. This increases the chance of unfettered access from cybercriminals.
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
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