For Football’s Big Game and Other Large-Scale Events Physical and Digital Security Must Go Hand in Hand

If you’re one of the 83,000 lucky enough to get a seat to this year’s Super Bowl in New Orleans, get ready for a battery of security checks as you make your way to your seat. 

Allbridge has found that there are no fewer than 10 distinct rings of security to ensure everyone’s safety. From US government agencies like the FBI and Department of Homeland Security to advanced screening technologies erected at stadium entry points and specialist counter-terrorism units on standby, the concept of physical security has been thoughtfully considered.

Those 83,000 ticket holders are only part of the story. It’s estimated that as many as 16,000 people are needed to help stage the big game, and a further 72,000 are required to support the Big Easy’s hospitality infrastructure to house and feed the teams, officials, the media and fans, and even the halftime show performers!

Those 150,000+ people will likely be working or recreating, each with their mobile phone or some other device. These devices hold their digital identities - everything from passwords, financial details, personal identification numbers (PINs), health records, contact information, location data, and login credentials for various accounts. Is it any wonder the Federal Trade Commission has a page on its website dedicated to our digital security?

But what about the hotels, public venues, and public Wi-Fi that are so commonly accessed? How is New Orleans or any host city prepared to improve on a track record that, according to a report from cybersecurity firm Trustwave, found that 31% of hospitality organizations suffered a data breach, with 89% being affected more than once a year? 

Allbridge would like to suggest a few issues that hotel owners and operators must consider in treating their guest’s digital security with the same level of seriousness as their physical security.

• Beware the Threat From Within - Knowing that large-scale events often attract high-profile individuals from the business, entertainment, and political world, the source of a data breach can often come from disgruntled employees, an ill-intentioned guest, or non-state actors whose presence in hotel lobbies, in host cities, is a deliberate act to copy data and steal identities from devices. 

To combat this, hotel owners and operators must monitor and mitigate security flaws and vulnerabilities to ensure that their guest-facing “front of house” systems (e.g., WIFI and keyless room entry) sync with their “back of house” systems (e.g., personnel, human resources, and vendor management). 

• The Role of AI - The hotel industry is just beginning to understand the long-term impact that AI will have on operations and how it can provide a great guest experience. Generative AI chatbots, like ChatGPT, have become potent tools for collecting and storing large amounts of data - including data about hotel guests. As such, these ever-evolving applications are capable of personalizing messages as a trojan horse to stage sophisticated cyber-attacks.
• Keep Property Tech Up-to-Date - Hotel and event venues are no different than any other business. When it comes to security, it’s imperative to keep systems updated. This includes ongoing audits of both guest-facing and back-office systems. It’s also important to ensure open lines of communication with the technology partners used to deploy and maintain a property’s infrastructure. Ideally, the tech within a hotel falls under the management of a single provider. This “one hand to shake” approach ensures any proactive or reactive measures can be done through one point of contact.

Whether a property’s guests or staff are assembled for the Super Bowl, a business trip, or a family vacation, protecting guests’ digital security is one of the hospitality industry’s most important challenges. The good news is that Allbridge has the know-how to erect the digital guard rails required to ensure digital security in the same way we have physical ones to protect physical security.