Earlier this week, Nordic Choice Hotels announced an attack on its IT systems, which they believed to be a “computer virus”. However it has since been revealed that it was the target of Conti ransomware, leading to hotel guests being locked out of their rooms. As IoT becomes more connected the threat of home and corporate security systems being targeted will only increase.
Commenting on this story was Javvad Malik lead security awareness advocate at KnowBe4:
“We’ve seen several hotels and others in the travel and hospitality industry targeted in the last few years. Much of this is driven due to the fact that these organisations hold an incredible amount of personal information on large numbers of individuals.
In addition, we are seeing as more organisations adopt IoT devices throughout, the attack surface increases, as does the impact of any system becoming unavailable.
It is why organisations across all verticals and industries need to carefully consider their security obligations. This includes properly securing customer information, and making sure that only information needed is saved. It also requires organisations to be mindful of what smart or IoT devices they acquire and install and ensure there is a thorough security check undertaken to ensure these devices are fit for purpose.”
