Trustwave's 2024 Financial Services Threat Reports Highlight Alarming Trends in Insider Threats & Phishing-as-a-Service. Learn More

Trustwave's 2024 Financial Services Threat Reports Highlight Alarming Trends in Insider Threats & Phishing-as-a-Service. Learn More

Services
Managed Detection & Response

Eliminate active threats with 24/7 threat detection, investigation, and response.

Co-Managed SOC (SIEM)

Maximize your SIEM investment, stop alert fatigue, and enhance your team with hybrid security operations support.

Advisory & Diagnostics

Advance your cybersecurity program and get expert guidance where you need it most.

Penetration Testing

Test your physical locations and IT infrastructure to shore up weaknesses before exploitation.

Database Security

Prevent unauthorized access and exceed compliance requirements.

Email Security

Stop email threats others miss and secure your organization against the #1 ransomware attack vector.

Digital Forensics & Incident Response

Prepare for the inevitable with 24/7 global breach response in-region and available on-site.

Firewall & Technology Management

Mitigate risk of a cyberattack with 24/7 incident and health monitoring and the latest threat intelligence.

Solutions
BY TOPIC
Microsoft Security
Unlock the full power of Microsoft Security
Offensive Security
Solutions to maximize your security ROI
Rapidly Secure New Environments
Security for rapid response situations
Securing the Cloud
Safely navigate and stay protected
Securing the IoT Landscape
Test, monitor and secure network objects
Why Trustwave
About Us
Awards and Accolades
Trustwave SpiderLabs Team
Trustwave Fusion Security Operations Platform
Trustwave Security Colony
Partners
Technology Alliance Partners
Key alliances who align and support our ecosystem of security offerings
Trustwave PartnerOne Program
Join forces with Trustwave to protect against the most advance cybersecurity threats

Top 5 Compliance Challenges for Hospitality - #4: Complex IT Environments

In this series, we'll address the top security and compliance challenges faced by hospitality brands and properties.

Last week, we highlighted the fact that the number one technology issue facing hospitality brand and property owners today is compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS). But meeting PCI presents many challenges, such as lack of network segmentation.

Continuing our count down, challenge #4 is complex IT Environments.

When it comes to hospitality, IT complexity is a major challenge for: 

  • Highly distributed, decentralized organizations
  • Relatively large, disparate and inconsistent individual site networks

Restaurant chains, for example, and other franchised or corporate-owned businesses, are often highly distributed operations with multiple sites with no shared, common technology, or shared information security policies and procedures. Standardization is important, but many times it takes a back seat to growing the business.

In hotel properties, complexity occurs as the result of accommodating many disparate systems that need to co-exist and interact with each other, such as:

  • Central reservation systems
  • Point-of-sale (POS) systems
  • Platforms for finance, sales, guest services and catering
  • Physical security elements (e.g., surveillance, key cards) that tie into the data network

This can result in tens to hundreds of devices sitting on the data network at individual properties. Even worse, each system may be in scope for PCI DSS, increasing the complexity of the compliance validation process.

What's a Hospitality Business to Do?
First, determine who in the organization is responsible (or who should be) for overseeing compliance efforts, policies and procedures, and deployment of IT security technology.

Next, take stock of what the environment looks like between corporate and individual property locations at a basic level by answering some simple questions:

  • Do standard information security policies and procedures exist in some form for the organization as a whole? How are they communicated across the business?
  • Is there a network perimeter security control at each location such as a firewall?
  • How many distinct configurations exist from a network security perspective?
  • How is compliance with the PCI DSS being practiced among the business operation? Is there consistency among compliance processes and security controls?

Depending on the answers to these questions, determine if the organization has the time, resources and expertise to support bringing about the standardization, consistency and day-to-day management necessary to implement best-practice compliance and security processes, procedures and technology.

If necessary, engage a third-party with expertise in these areas to help ease, simplify and accelerate these support requirements.

ABOUT TRUSTWAVE

Trustwave is a globally recognized cybersecurity leader that reduces cyber risk and fortifies organizations against disruptive and damaging cyber threats. Our comprehensive offensive and defensive cybersecurity portfolio detects what others cannot, responds with greater speed and effectiveness, optimizes client investment, and improves security resilience. Learn more about us.

Latest Intelligence

Discover how our specialists can tailor a security program to fit the needs of
your organization.

Request a Demo