Leisure industry vulnerable to cyber attacks

Cyber attacks are on the increase, and the leisure and hospitality industry is the chief target, according to one insurance broker. And it warns that this is only likely to increase as hackers become more sophisticated.
According to Willis, the leisure and hospitality industry is the chief target for cyber attacks as it collects vast quantities of personal, identifiable information. It reports a 56 per cent rise in cyber claims over the last year, with an increasing proportion in the hospitality industry.

While hackers are becoming more sophisticated in their attempts to obtain customers’ personal details, the company warns that this is exacerbated by rogue employees and mistakes by outsourcing firms.

To meet this growing threat, cyber liability insurance is evolving to help companies transfer the risks and costs of data loss and cyber piracy. This includes the recent development of specific cover within business insurance policies for identity theft and the mismanagement of credit card data.