As the final days of autumn usher in the close of the year, it’s an ideal moment to reflect on the cybersecurity trends that shaped 2024.

Nothing tells the story quite better than cold-hard numbers.  

In this week’s feature of the VENZA Echo, we take a look into the most critical cybersecurity statistics for hoteliers in 2024, offering a data-driven review of the trends that have emerged throughout the year.

Costs

*The average cost of a data breach has risen to $4.45 million USD, the highest level since the pandemic.

*Hospitality experienced a 13% increase in average data breach costs, growing to $3.82 million USD.

*Costs associated with regulatory fines increased, with 22.7% of affected organisations  paying more than $50,000 USD.

*Cyber insurance premium rates saw a 15% reduction in 2023, following a two-year surge between 2020 and 2022.

*Total fines for violations of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) are approaching €5 billion.

Threats

*Over 68% of reported data breaches involved employee errors or social engineering.

*Phishing and compromised or stolen credentials are the top two initial attack vectors for breaches. They also caused the costliest incidents.

*Social engineering attacks have surged in hospitality, now accounting for 25% of all incidents. Pretexting has doubled over the past year and now represents 20% of these cases.

*In the last year, 71% of organisations experienced at least one phishing attack, and those that fell victim saw a 144% spike in financial costs.

*Business Email Compromise (BEC) accounted for nearly a quarter of all financially motivated phishing attacks over the past two years.

*Hybrid vishing, or phone-based phishing attacks, has surged by over 500%, with 70% of businesses found vulnerable.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

*The AI solutions market in the travel and hospitality sectors is rapidly expanding, projected to surpass $70.32 billion by 2031.

*Over 70% of organisations using AI solutions experienced breaches in those systems.

*Nearly 96% of business executives believe that integrating generative AI into operations will lead to a breach within the next three years.

*Three-quarters of cybersecurity professionals have reported an increase in attacks since 2023. Most attribute this surge to generative AI.

*Since the introduction of ChatGPT in 2022, phishing emails have surged over 4,000%.

*Organisations that integrated AI into cybersecurity infrastructure identified and contained data breaches nearly 100 days faster and reduced associated costs by 45.6% compared to those without AI.

Training & Awareness

*Only 53% of organisations provide security awareness training to all employees.

*Over 70% of users admitted to “risky” actions like reusing passwords or clicking suspicious links.  

*Without training, one third of employees proved susceptible to phishing scams.

*Organisations with security awareness training saw a 70% reduction in security-related risks.

*Businesses with high employee training engagement saw an average reduction of $1 million USD in breach-related costs compared to those with lower participation.

Conclusion

As 2024 draws to a close, these statistics showcase the persistent cybersecurity challenges confronting hospitality. With escalating breach costs and an increasingly complex threat landscape, the stakes have never been higher.

One thing remains clear: preparedness and education continue to be the most effective defenses in safeguarding data and protecting hotelier reputation.

Feeling overwhelmed? Don’t worry. As the leading experts in hospitality data protection, VENZA offers tailored training and simulated social engineering attacks to assess and strengthen your defenses, providing 360-degree protection for your hotel.

Ready to get started? Contact Sales to discuss signing up for our programs or adding new solutions to your contract.

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Take VENZA’s free Phishing Test to assess gaps in your human firewall today!

Training your personnel to recognize and report phishing attempts is essential to protecting your guests and their data. Get started by determining your risk and readiness level using this free tool.

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