IHG (InterContinental Hotel Group) Cyberattack

InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) has suffered an unprecedented cyber-attack. The attack affected its Holiday Inn, Crown Plaza, and Regent hotels. IHG is a British MNC currently managing 6,028 hotels across more than 100 different countries and has over 1,800 more under construction. There has been significant disruption to IHG’s booking channels and other apps, as confirmed by the InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (IHG or the Company). What started as a breach of Starwood’s data has now spread to the IHG group. Those who have recently made reservations at IHG properties are warned to check their credit card statements. There is no indication as of yet whether the information has been used. The cyberattack occurred at IHG’s UK division, and their customers’ personal data might have been accessed. Contact information, including names and addresses, might have been compromised. IHG has not yet specified whether the incident was caused by ransomware or another type of software or what the source of penetration was. Whatever the cause may be, the IHG hack shows that cybercriminals are targeting even the largest corporations having an employee size of approx. 3.25 lacs.

Is IHG The First Hospitality Brand To Experience A Cyberattack? 

 While it’s true that IHG is not the first hospitality brand to experience a cyber-attack, this latest incident has brought home some important lessons.  The hotel industry has been hit by several high-profile cyber-attacks over the past few years, including one in which guests at affected properties were locked out of their rooms and forced to stay at another hotel until they could be reunited with their luggage. While this incident was not as severe, we can still learn valuable lessons from it. Read on to know. 

What Can Organizations Do To Safeguard Against Such Attacks? 

• The first step to protecting yourself is to use a multi-layered approach. You need to be able to detect threats before they happen and respond effectively when they do. The detection can be effectively achieved through a managed EDR solution that can detect and respond to threats even before they harm your business. 
• Several tools can help you with this task, such as threat intelligence systems and behavior analytics software, which monitors data feeds from across the Internet and alerts you when something suspicious happens or an attack is imminent. One such solution is managed SIEM, which, if an organization employs, can always protect from future attacks. 
• To protect against cyber-attacks, it’s essential that your company has a plan in place for how it will respond if one occurs—and that everyone who needs access knows exactly what their role is during an incident. One of the major solutions that organizations need is Identity and Access Management (IAM) to manage and control user access to digital information, resources, and systems within the company. 

Suggested Reading: 6 Cloud Security Challenges You Should Know About In 2022 The breach highlights the importance of staying up to date on cyber security. The IHG hack is not a major incident, but it does raise questions about how well your organization is protected against cyberattacks.  The best way to prevent such an attack is to stay current with the latest security updates and patches. If you don’t have an up-to-date version of the operating system or application, install it now. You should also update all applications that connect to the Internet, especially email clients and social media applications. Cybercriminals are constantly looking for new targets and vulnerabilities to exploit. The sooner you address any vulnerabilities in your systems, the more time you will have to prevent future attacks from happening.  To protect yourself from a cyber-attack, you should use a layered approach. 1. The first layer is your firewall, which defends against attacks that make it past your server and into your network.   2. The second layer is anti-malware software that protects against viruses and other types of malware.  3. The third layer is two-factor authentication (2FA), which provides additional security by requiring users to enter both their password AND another piece of information before accessing sensitive data or performing an action on a computer system. 

How Can Consumers Protect Themselves?

Here are some tips to help you protect yourself if you are a consumer:

• Use a credit card that offers free fraud protection.  
• Use a password manager to create strong passwords for all your accounts so that if one gets compromised, it won’t affect others—and don’t share logins with anyone else!
• Don’t click on links in emails or texts from unknown senders because those could lead someone else onto your computer without permission—or install malware on their device (which could potentially steal personal data). If something seems too good not to be true, then it probably is! 

When it comes to cybersecurity, we are only as strong as our weakest link. 

An attack can happen anywhere, regardless of the industry sector, size, and location. Companies need to have a good cybersecurity strategy in place and ensure that everyone on their team is aware of the importance of this issue. They also should have a cyber hygiene program for employees who use company systems or devices. Finally, companies need to understand the threat landscape and be aware of recent developments in cybersecurity so they can respond accordingly when something goes wrong.   A Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP) like Ace Cloud Hosting offers these services at an affordable price with a free security consultation worth $500 to assess your current security posture and suggest plans to improve it. We hope these tips will help keep you safe from similar attacks in the future so that you can focus on growing your business! If you want more information about how ACE can help protect your business against hackers and other threats, contact us today!