The Hospitality Industry Needs a Security Wake Up Call. Will the HEI Hotel & Resorts Hack Be It?

The Westin Washington DC City Center was one of the 20 hotels hit by the attack. Photo by the Westin.

WASHINGTON, DC—As far as cyber hacks go, the Norwalk, CT-based HEI Hotel & Resorts breach doesn’t rank very high in terms of daring or potential catastrophe; at least not compared to the current one dominating headlines. An unknown group of cyber criminal group is claiming to have stolen US government hacking tools from an organization affiliated with the National Security Agency. Supposedly these tools are on sale right now — available to the highest bidder.

But then again, ask a guest who had stayed at one of the affected hotels during the time period the malware was active what his or her thoughts are about the breach. Or ask a security expert that has been following the chain of cyber thefts at hotels for the last two years, most of which have occurred through the same point of vulnerability.