3-Common Area Security

HTU 3

Hotelier Technology Update Common Area Security Guests care about security of personal and business information on their laptops just as they care about whether or not the lock on the guest room door works. iBAHN takes a unique patented network approach to providing this security most competitors do not—T-Mobile’s network is the only one close to providing this peace of mind.

Security also means peace of mind from virus-laden spam, phishing attacks to steal identity and data snooping from outside the guest room through the hotel's internet system.

Security in the hotel’s common area—who cares?

The common area of a property is different from any other physical area of the hotel – it is designed and operated to invite members of the public not necessarily staying in the hotel or attending a conference.

Unlike guest rooms which require an authorised key, these public areas are deliberately not physically secured. Likewise, the technology serving common areas of many hotels is not secure.

So who cares? Any conference attendee, meeting organiser, person in the lounge or restaurant, hotel general manager or security manager should care. Why? Having insecure technology in the common area is like propping open the door of every occupied room in the property. The scariest part of this picture is that unlike the ability to see the doors propped open, most property management companies and owners don’t even know they are putting their guests at risk.

Whenever a guest or visitor uses wired or wireless technology from insecure systems, they are inviting others to “take a look.” This is because wireless access points and wired Ethernet systems were designed from the ground up to facilitate communications between members of the same corporations and between devices like printers and other computers. This same “easy-to-use” feature creates a massive security issue when deployed in a hotel or convention centre.

Would you leave cash lying around the lobby of a hotel? Six hidden risks of using an insecure system!

What does security mean? In many cases, regardless of whether the guest uses a firewall, if the hotel system is not secure, they are subject to the following risks: 1. Anyone can steal data from the hard drive's saved documents on the laptop or computer. Studies show that data valued at between £300,000 and £500,000 is on the average laptop. One Fortune 500 company reported catching people just outside the conference room where they were having a new product conference collecting the information being presented. In another situation, the thieves were blocks from the hotel picking up the wireless system which was not secure.

2. Anyone can place data on the laptop or computer. Most commonly, thieves will place “spyware” on the laptop or mobile device that captures keystrokes and sends them back silently to another computer located elsewhere without the user's knowledge. This is how credit card information and other valuable information is stolen.

3. An Internet protocol (IP) address is required for every device and every Internet session. IP addresses are either public (i.e. can be reached from the Internet) or private (can only be accessed within the technology system like a corporate campus or hotel. With an insecure system and insecure network using public Internet protocol (IP) addresses like the kind provided by the phone company, this spyware placement can be done from anywhere in the world on a wired or wireless system. This is because many properties reuse the same small block of publicly addressable IP addresses which can be “dialled up” from any computer anywhere.

4. Anyone can use the common area, system-wired or wireless, as a conduit to send spam. Why should the hotelier care? Sites that are used for spamming are often closed down by the “Internet police” to prevent future spamming. Imagine the irritation of guests and conference attendees when they discover the property’s technology was shut down! Spammers also clog the system which causes slow performance for other users.

5. The lobby PC or business centre PC wired to an insecure system also creates security issues. Other users of the system can “look into” that computer to see the documents being created on it.

6. The lobby PC or business centre PC that is not “locked down” after each use also subjects users to someone reviewing their data later. Guests assume since they paid for the service or are in a secure area that their computer session is secure. Nothing could be further from the truth. Data is easily compromised by looking up “recent documents.” We recently observed the passport numbers and American Express credit card numbers of a number of guests at a property.

It’s unlikely the hotel - or the guest - was even aware of this liability.

Five ways iBAHN’s security is built in, not bolted on So what makes the iBAHN system different from its competition? We built security from the ground up to make it very difficult for others to “snoop” onto the guest’s hard drive or to place spyware programs on them. We do this by: 1. Securing our wired and wireless systems access ports so that all user traffic is directed to the iBAHN security systems located at the hotel and our network POPs (Points of Presence) 2. Securing our wired and wireless systems so that a user may not “see” other users or devices on the system 3. Building in multiple layers of firewalls to prevent unwanted snooping 4. Running a private network prevents unauthorised snooping, phishing, spamming and virus laden email messages 5. Using a pool of only private IP addresses which means no person outside can “see” the computers of users on the network This patented approach to technology allows iBAHN’s hotelier partners to provide the highest level of security available for their conference attendees and guests.

Email us at: eurosales@ibahn.com, or telephone +49 (0) 8122 559 56 55 or visit www.ibahneurope.com