Cyber related insurance claims leapt over 50% last year
The leisure and hospitality industry is increasingly being targeted by cyber criminals, according to Willis. The broker reported that cyber related insurance claims have spiked by 56% over the past year alone with an increasing proportion of victims in the hospitality industry.
Once inside a computer system cyber criminals can exploit a wealth of personal information that hotels and resorts collect from their customers.
The main culprits of data breaches include rogue employees, malicious attacks and mistakes made by outsourcing firms employed to manage customer data.
With more stringent data protection legislation coming into force, companies’ financial exposure to cyber crime will only increase.
“Hackers are getting ever more sophisticated, penetrating firewalls to drain corporate databases of their customers’ personal details, including credit-card numbers when not encrypted, medical histories and other personal information,” said Laurie Fraser, Global Markets Leisure Practice Leader at Willis.
“Companies that hold substantial volumes of personal, identifiable data are irresistible to web-based pirates,” added Jeremy Smith, practice leader of Willis’ London cyber team.
