Travelers worry about data breach from loyalty programs, survey finds

[Audrey McNeil <audrey () riskbasedsecurity com>]

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-travelers-worry-about-data-breach-20140926-story.html

Following news that hackers stole credit-card information from Target and
Home Depot shoppers, it should be no surprise that frequent travelers worry
that airlines and hotels may not be doing enough to secure their personal
information.

Only 33% of frequent travelers believe their loyalty rewards information —
credit-card numbers, reward account data and travel itinerary — is secure
with airlines and hotels, according to a survey of more than 1,000 frequent
travelers.

The survey comes at a time when airlines and hotels are pushing hard to
personalize their service, such as offering travel packages based on
previous bookings. But the survey found that frequent travelers are nervous
about the security of that information.

A majority of the travelers surveyed (76%) said they worry about losing
their credit-card numbers because of an online security breach and 15% fear
losing loyalty points, according to the survey by Deloitte & Touche.

Charles Carrington, a partner in Deloitte’s Travel, Hospitality and Leisure
practice, said loyalty reward programs need to assure their members that
their data are secure.

“Failure to do so could not only frustrate, even endanger, travelers, but
also cause serious reputational damage and revenue loss,” he said.

The airline industry works hard to keep loyalty data safe, said Jean
Medina, a spokeswoman for Airlines for America, a trade group for the
industry.

“Airlines know how important customer information is, and they have
transparent privacy policies and are vigilant in protecting customer data,”
she said.

_______________________________________________
Dataloss Mailing List (dataloss () datalossdb org)
Archived at http://seclists.org/dataloss/
Unsubscribe at http://lists.osvdb.org/mailman/listinfo/dataloss
For inquiries regarding use or licensing of data, e-mail
        sales () riskbasedsecurity com 

Supporters:

Risk Based Security (http://www.riskbasedsecurity.com/)
YourCISO is an affordable SaaS solution that provides a comprehensive information security program that ensures focus 
on the right security.  If you need security help or want to provide real risk reduction for your clients contact us!