New York Hospitality by Vijay Dandapani

Gaining an edge on paying it safe

Earlier this year, a report from SpiderLabs came up with the startling fact that data within hotel computer systems were breached more  than in financial institutions in 2009 and that nearly all the attacks were targeted at the repository of payment-card data.  In fact, the ratio of attacks in the hotel industry (38%) was exactly double that of those in the financial industry (19%).That unsurprising conclusion was on the heels of reports of one of the largest credit-card data compromises for a hotel chain when a hacker put eight million people  at risk of ID fraud by selling the details to the Russian mafia.

The New York Times ran a report explaining why hackers went after hotels more so than other industries including retail. The self-evident reason offered was that "hackers hit hotels because that is where the richest vein of personal credit card data is. At hotels with inadequate data security the greatest amount of credit card information can be obtained using the most simplified methods." The industry remains a step behind the hackers who employ sophisticated sytems that vary depening on the targeted hotel/s. Unhelpful to the process of thwarting the cyber-thieves is the peripatetic nature of hotel clients, many of whom fail to check their credit card statements early and often enough resulting in long lead times for the perpertrators to salt away their ill-gotten gains.  Add to that is the recent trend in frugality brought on by the recession of guests using debit cards instead of credit cards which puts customers at greater risks should they have large amounts in their bank accounts.

While many hotel companies have undertaken plans to implement new technology the failure to disclose, at least in broad stokes, those steps to the traveling public is arguably a disservice  and does nothing to instill consumer confidence. Mercifully, there have been no reported attacks in the last 5-6 but it is unlikely the hackers are reposing quietly.

Nevertheless, recent technological innovation, outside the hospitality industry, is likely to enable hoteliers to keep one step ahead of those looking to purloin credit-card data. One such innovation is by Akamai, a leading web-services and content delivery technology company. Akamai is planning to launch its secure e-payment solutions early next year in the Asia-Pacific region, with Singapore as the hub. The service will enable any online merchanto convert credit card data to a token on Akamai's cloud which will make it harder, though not impossible, for data-thieves to access the information. Named Akamai Edge Tokenisation, the e-payment security service will offer automatic compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. Akamai's executive noted that "this service is a game changer that will free merchants from an environment where credit card information is stored in local data centres, at high risk of being stolen by data thieves." While it is appears to be a significant technological lead forward in terms of a barrier to data theft, hospitality companies will need to retool PMSs and CRS systems to ensure that guest data that necessarily will remain in them for marketing and CRM purposes is bereft of the critical piece, credit card numbers, sought by cyber-hackers.

 

Room makeover: tech that's down the pike

A sneak preview of new age gadgets and services to come that were on display at Demo Fall 2010 and TechCrunch Disrupt, was reported on by the Financial Times. Both shows are where aspiring start-ups looking to be the next Facebook or Google display their wares and moxie (considering how much of a reach those goals usually are). More than a couple of them could well be on Guestroom 2012 if they get to the mass marketing stage.

A leading contender is Lark Up,the brainchild of very brainy Julia Hu, an MIT grad student who found herself waking far too soon on most mornings as her boyfriend almost always attempted to wake up before she did but slept through his alarm and numerous reminders on most days. The device sells for a mere $99 and promises to wake up its clients "silently" while letting others in the room or the same bed sleep on while also assuring the woken up that it as close to a "natural" wake up as possible. The website for the gadget says it was developed by a Harvard sleep expert and built by MIT engineers and tested by/on couples and is comprised of a "wristband (that) is like pajamas for your wrist: soft, slim, comfortable, and hassle free" which is hooked up via a bluetooth wireless connection to an iphone or ipod that doubles as an alarm clock. At the appointed hour the wristband nudges the sleeper awake through vibrations. Sure beats a loud wake-up call to the hotel phone or the (usually) impossible to work alarm-clocks on the night-stand. Solo-travelers too are likely to welcome its soothing wake-up medium. 

The FT also writes  of "another start-up entering a crowded market already dominated by bigger players is Veebeam. Its TV set-top box shown at Demo allows users to beam their PC or laptop’s desktop and files to a TV screen in 1080p, the best available high-definition quality. Also priced at $99, the device "uses a technology called Wireless USB to do this. A USBstick with a transmitter plugs into the laptop and video files are then stream­ed through the air to the set-top box, which can be connected to the TV with an HDMI cable." As the FT report notes, there are many others who do what the Veebeam professes to do but this is the first to "use Wireless USB and is thereby mounting a direct challenge to the similar WiDi proprietary technology of Intel." For hotels that do not want to deal with wiring Veebeam appears to offer a distinctly better solution.

A service with potential application for the hospitality industry on display at the TechCrunch show was "a hybrid social service built around US car licence plates."  Clients register their car license plates with the service and say how they may want to be contacted either via e-mail and/or a phone call. Any one looking at those plates either physically or via a scanning device notes the plate number and sends a (promotional) message to the service. The prospect of competitors scanning plates at rival hotels and suggesting to customers that they may have a better option next door could result in some interesting outcomes for the hotel industry.

Gizmo laden hotels

Networkworld, a magazine with a focus on network technology, has an article entitled Geek hotels: places a traveling techie will love. The article begins by noting that "hotels are increasingly becoming high-tech. And with good reason: People want their 24/7 connectivity and other techie requirements even when they're away from home. So hotels that want to become (or stay) successful are making sure they offer amenities like wireless or even the latest video games". While that observation is no surprise to savvy hoteliers, the article goes on to rate their nine best techie hotels based on objective criteria saying that "these hotels have found a way to go above and beyond standard hotel niceties. Some offer both luxurious surroundings and futuristic tech conveniences, some have found a way to offer tech amenities at a reasonable rate, and some are using technology to bring people together".

The magazine used a range of categories such as "Modular High-Tech" naming the CitizenM hotel in Amsterdam's Schipol hotel saying that it is hi-tech both in construction (used modular construction) and features (self check-in, RFID key cards etc.). The Gansevoort in New York's meatpacking district comes under "luxury and hi-tech" with "free wi-fi, 42 inch LCD TVs, CD players and alarm clocks with iPod docking stations. They also offer in-room safes for your laptops or purchases at the area's many designer boutiques. Of course, the Meatpacking District is also home to trendy restaurants galore, and guests can choose to work off those meals the high-tech way: By requesting a Wii console delivered to their room and working up a sweat playing one of the sports games". Others like Seattle's Hotel 1000 come under "Motion Detection at Your Service" where "video phones allow guests to see when the valet delivers their car to the hotel entrance". Quite nifty. Overseas in Japan the Peninsula, Tokyo merits a mention as "Tech Pampering in Japan" where the rooms offer a host of amenities: wall panels that show outdoor weather conditions; in-room fax machines, nail dryers and espresso machines; and Internet radio automatically programmed to the guest's country of residence". Others finding mention are the Hotel Sax in Chicago which offers guests a lounge to play Xbox, the Pod Hotel in New York as the Facebook" Hotel with its i-pod docking stations and the Best Western Hotel Tomo in San Francisco's Japantown as " J-Pop Décor, Games and Tech" with its J-pop and comics inspiration with graphic murals in each room.

Internet insecurity?

A newly released study conducted by two faculty members and an alumnus from Cornell University's hotel school shows that a "a substantial majority of hotels are not using all the possible tools to maintain their network's security". The study was the result of a direct analysis of the networks available to guests in 46 hotels and was supplemented by a survey of 147 U.S. hotels. The study is available free of charge at the website of Cornell's Center for Hospitality Research.

The executive summary for the study notes that "many business travelers connect remotely to continue working while on the road, the potential for theft of corporate information exists. Some hotels still rely on relatively rudimentary hub technology for their networks, and these are particularly subject to hacking. Others have upgraded to more secure switches or routers. Even better is encryption for Wi-Fi connections, but that still does not prevent malicious users from intercepting guests’ transmissions".

The study notes that some hotels are more active than others in securing their guests' internet connections and cites a "best practice" example of a hotel in Dallas where the property "set up each node on its network as a virtual local area network, or VLAN. By using these VLANs, the hotel had separated each guest's computer in a way that should protect against stolen data. It also gives the hotel greater control over the guest side of the network".

Some internet security measures hotel operators can take with relative ease and low costs were highlighted in earlier posts on this site and are reproduced below:

- Urge guests to ask the correct name of the hotspot connection to help ensure a false connection is not logged into.
- Disabling a laptop's automatic feature that conencts to the "nearest" hotspot ensures the lazy way out does not result in loss of data.
- Having a personal firewall outside of corporate firewall (which typically does nothing in a hotel) helps.
-Corporate guests who have a corporate VPN (virtual private network) have an advantage over general consumers as they can "tunnel" into their corporate network and thwart hackers.

Internet security of guests should be given just as much care as for personal valuables and that process could be helped along if more data on the extent of actual breaking into of guests' computers is made available if only to enable operators to be a step ahead of the hackers and thieves.

Tech heist

The Sunday Herald, a Scottish newspaper has a report on what could end up being the largest heist in hospitality, if not cyber-space, annals.

According to the Herald "An international criminal gang has pulled off one of the most audacious cyber-crimes ever and stolen the identities of an estimated eight million people in a hacking raid that could ultimately net more than £2.8billion ($5.16bn) in illegal funds". The paper's investigation revealed that a "previously unknown Indian hacker successfully breached the IT defences of the Best Western Hotel group's online booking system and sold details of how to access it through an underground network operated by the Russian mafia".

The paper notes that the "stolen data includes a range of private information including home addresses, telephone numbers, credit card details and place of employment".

The hotel chain has stated that it has taken "immediate action to disable the compromised log-in account in question. We are currently in the process of working with our credit card partners to ensure that all relevant procedural standards are met, and that the interests of our guests are protected."

While cyber crime is not new, the methods almost always are. Best Western likely has closed the gap on what enabled this crime but hackers are constantly on the prowl with new innovative methods to get after (usually) corporate websites. One way of keeping abreast of them is to attend DefCon, an annual gathering of hackers from all over the world. This year's Defcon was held at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas with a menu of items that is of interest, ironically, both to knaves and knights. The events included seminars on topics such as "Analyzing Intrusions & Intruders; Disclosure and Intellectual Property Law: Case Studies;Vulnerabilities and The Information Assurance Directorate and Database Forensics.

It is thanks to this gathering, among others, that the battle to thwart cyber-crime, is largely won by the good guys. Tech departments in hospitality companies would do well to ensure their participation to minimize, if not eliminate, cyber-crimes.

Hotels bite at the Apple

Appleinsider reports that "Apple's Enterprise Sales Group has been quietly installing thousands of iMacs, Mac minis, Mac Pros, and Xserves in hotels and cruise ships in a new push to bring the media rich experience of Apple's retail stores to the hospitality industry, where hoteliers are seeking to deliver personalized, unique experiences that will impress guests and bring them back for more.

Hotels have asked for Apple's help in bringing iTunes-style simplicity to their luxury accommodations. Many hoteliers are "struggling to reach the digital demographic" and "to differentiate themselves," explained Bradley Walker of Nanonation in a seminar on Macs in the hospitality industry. "You've been to the Apple Store," Walker said. "If you could recreate that in a hotel, that would be a very attractive place to stay."

Nanonation, is a company that specializes in digital signage and kiosks and is working with Apple to bring its technology to both large and boutique hotels. Their initial efforts are directed at interactive solutions for lobbies and other public areas besides concierge services. According to the company " installations in public locations can remind a guest of a spa appointment, allow them to order drinks, or make a service or restaurant reservation.

The potential for in-room concierge services via (Apple) computers is significant particularly with the new demographic profile of hotel customers from Gen X and Y.

New google tool for marketing & advertising

A Computerworld report notes that "Google rolled out a new tool that it said can help marketing and advertising users better analyze Internet search patterns, while also adding new tools such as a "heat map" for graphically displaying search volumes and other data". Termed Google Insights for search, the tool can help "compare search volume patterns across specific regions, categories, and time frames" and is an extension of the updated Google Trends tool that the company launched in June of this year.

The new tool allows users to type in search terms and then see search volume patterns over time as well as the top related and rising searches. As in any industry, this would allow marketing departments to see what attributes work best for them. As Google explains this enables marketers to "determine which messages resonate best". For example, if a prospective hotel breaking into a crowded marketplace is unsure whether to highlight its location, key amenity or feature and enters all three into insight, it will be able to determine which attribute has the greatest interest for customers in that hotel market. Insights can also help determine seasonal requirements as well as knowing what consumer perceptions of competing products are. All in all a wealth of data to be mined, crunched and assimilated for a more efficient and rewarding marketing effort for hotels.

Cloud computing and hotels

The Financial Times' blog has a report on the new cloud computing deal between HP, Intel and Yahoo. In an era when green is overtaking just about every industry, cloud computing offers not only an environmental advantage but also savings brought about by better use of infrastructure and real estate. In a nutshell cloud computing could facilitate deployment of applications without the cost and complexity of buying and managing the underlying hardware and software layers. And for hotels that could potentially include the PMS and sales applications.

The FT notes that cloud computing is"fast becoming this year’s ‘green data centre,’ if the recent excitement about technologies that allow people to perform increasingly complicated computing tasks over the internet is any guide. Compared with some other recent announcements, however, the cloud computing project announced on Tuesday by Yahoo, Intel and Hewlett-Packard appears to pack a particular punch" While a "world in which companies and people can ‘plug in’ to computing resources just like they do electricity is still a long way off this initiative looks like it could be useful to researchers looking for ways to move beyond the relatively simple tasks that can be performed in the cloud today - like sales force management and other types of productivity applications - to bigger, more resource-intensive processes".

Search engine piggybacking

The Wall Street Journal reports on an internet phenomenon named "piggybacking" whereby "smaller advertisers use major players' brand names, slogans or other trademarked words in the text of search ads to lure Web surfers to their own sites". The practice has, quite rightly, attracted the ire of big players in a number of industries including the hospitality industry.

The Journal article notes that "Tensions over piggybacking have been simmering for a couple of years. Companies such as Marriott International Inc., InterContinental Hotels Group PLC, AMR Corp.'s American Airlines and Northwest Airlines Corp. say the use of their names and slogans in the text of other companies' search ads confuses potential customers and increases their cost of doing business. They are particularly upset with Google, which is the dominant player in the search business. It controlled 71.2% of the search market last year, according to research firm eMarketer Inc. While Google and other search engines have policies against this maneuver, some marketers say the practice often goes unchecked".

As an example of the practice the article notes that "a recent Google search using the words "Marriott Atlanta," for instance, brought up an advertiser-paid link labeled "Marriott Atlanta." That led to www.hoteltravel.com, a discount hotel-reservations site. But a link on the site for a Marriott hotel room in Atlanta ultimately led to an error page. Marriott says the site isn't authorized to use the Marriott name in its online text". Intercontinental hotels had a similar complaint as "a recent Google search with the words "Holiday Inn Orlando" brought up a sponsored link labeled "Holiday Inn Orlando." It led to LowFares.com, an online travel comparison-shopping site". At an even more malevolent level online criminals increasingly favor compromising legitimate sites with malicious code known as iframe code which redirect visitors to malicious Web sites.

For now Google says its system "works" and that they are "trying to balance advertisers and trademark owners and user interests". Google can and must do better.

Electronic in-room guest directories

The Financial Times (subscription required) has a report on the approval by European regulators for the purchase of TeleAtlas, a digital mapping company, by TomTom, the maker of navigation devices while also noting the impending €8.1bn ($12.8bn) purchase of Navteq by Nokia. The FT characterizes these acquisitions as spurring "one of the hottest business fads on the internet".

For the hospitality industry (and many others) it could be more than a fad. At first glance, it could revolutionize the way hotels cater to business (and leisure) customers' needs for local area information. Many operators perforce have to deal with stodgy old (print) guest directories that for some cash strapped operations result in ad deals with local area businesses as a quid-pro-quo for a "free" directory. The result, often, is a clumsy cluttered directory that omits more than it includes. Navteq's potential acquisition by the world's biggest maker of hand held cell-phone devices could result in hotel customers having access to "vast libraries of information describing the world in painstaking detail!".

It is not hard to imagine sales executives visiting their beat and knowing minutiae about local area businesses. As Microsoft's Erik Jorgensen notes "Imagine, that you are going to the theater: you will probably want to find other things nearby, like a place to park and a restaurant, so it makes sense to search by location". As the FT rightly notes this could be "something as prevalent and powerful as Google's simple search box".