Hotels and Resorts Main Targets for Data Thieves

As businesses continue to eliminate the human element of customer service and push consumers to doing more and more business online, they've given rise to growing danger for those who end up sharing a lot of info online: identity theft.

Most at risk, according to a new report from British insurance company Willis Group Holdings, are business travelers who book hotel rooms and resorts online.

“Insurance claims for data theft worldwide jumped 56% last year, with a bigger number of those attacks targeting the hospitality industry,” says the report, according to the Los Angeles Times. “The largest share of cyber attacks — 38% — were aimed at hotels, resorts and tour companies.”

Laurie Fraser, global markets leisure practice leader for Willis, told the Times that the most vulnerable are likely to be large hotel chains “because hotel management companies may not be able to monitor how data is collected and stored at dozens or even hundreds of properties throughout the world.”

Jeremy Smith, practice leader of Willis’ London cyber team, told the Insuarance Journal, “Willis is working closely with the insurance industry to stress test existing policies’ ability to address the nature of cyber crime and develop exclusive wordings that assist in the transfer of these risks.”