Many small and medium-sized travel companies are leaving themselves open to Internet-based security risks because they think cyber criminals only target large and well-known organisations, according to new research.
IT security firm McAfee has released the results of a survey of 600 small and medium-sized businesses around Europe.
Of those companies operating in travel and tourism, 75% think cyber crime is an issue for big companies, while a quarter believe because they are not well known, they are not on cyber criminals’ radar.
However, McAfee senior security analyst Greg Day said small travel companies are burying their heads in the sand if they think their websites are not vulnerable.
Day said most web-based attacks are aimed at particular applications, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer. He said there are more than 200,000 pieces of malicious software codes that could infiltrate businesses that have not taken sufficient security measures.
Internet-based attacks range from spam e-mails to attempts to gain access to sensitive business data.
“Cyber criminals don’t discriminate; to them size does not matter,” said Day. “Even very small companies will have customer details or financial information that will be of use to a cyber criminal.”
And despite 25% of respondents acknowledging that a bad attack could possibly put them out of business, half said they spend only an hour a week on proactive IT security management.
Paul Richer, senior partner at travel technology consultancy Genesys, agreed that time pressures can mean many small travel companies neglect simple steps
that could improve their IT security.
Not keeping anti-virus software up to date or forgetting to delete passwords for former employees are two of the most common security oversights, according to Richer.
He said: “In small companies, time is precious and because IT security is something that isn’t visible, people often don’t deal with it.
“But just as you wouldn’t leave the premises without switching on the alarm system, it’s important you take steps to protect vital business information.”