This post is adapted from a longer article that originally ran in Hotel Business. You can read the full article here.

Hotels are sitting on a goldmine of personal data: names, payment details, passport numbers, loyalty profiles, stay history. Add in dozens of connected systems across reservations, payments, and back-office operations, and you’ve got exactly what cybercriminals are looking for. More systems, more data, more doors in.

As breaches become more common and regulations get stricter, security can’t stay an IT afterthought. In 2026, protecting guest data is protecting guest trust.

The Threat Is Bigger Than You Think

Nearly a third of hospitality businesses (31%) have already experienced a data breach, often thanks to outdated technology and unpatched vulnerabilities. And that’s not a small-picture problem: 32% of all cyberattacks in 2025 were caused by outdated software alone. Every unpatched system is a door left unlocked.

What’s changed recently is who’s able to walk through that door. AI is giving attackers the same leg up it gives security teams; the skill barrier that used to keep out less sophisticated hackers is gone. Someone who couldn’t have pulled off an attack two years ago can now lean on AI to do it. The result isn’t just faster attacks. It’s more attackers.

And guests notice. 75% say they’d stop doing business with a brand after a cybersecurity incident, and 42% of hoteliers say security concerns are a top reason they’ve walked away from a tech partner. Waiting for a breach to take security seriously is no longer an option.

Five Cybersecurity Habits That Keep Hotels Out of the Headlines

Strong security isn’t a once-a-year audit. It’s continuous. Here’s what that looks like in practice:

Lock down the infrastructure. Segment systems into restricted zones, encrypt data in transit and at rest, and never expose internal systems directly to the public internet.

Limit who can touch what. Give employees and systems access only to what they need, review those permissions regularly, and use geographic restrictions where it makes sense. Less access means less damage if an account is compromised.

Watch everything in one place. Centralizing logs from cloud infrastructure, applications, and endpoints makes it far easier to catch unusual activity before it becomes a full-blown incident.

Hunt for weaknesses before attackers do. Patch on a rolling basis, scan code as it’s committed, and continuously test live systems instead of waiting for a scheduled review.

Have a response plan ready. No system is unbreakable. What separates a contained incident from a crisis is a team (internal or partnered) that can investigate and act fast.

And don’t skip the human layer: social engineering is still one of the easiest ways in. Regular, role-specific phishing training keeps staff sharp as tactics evolve.

What to Ask Before You Sign With a PMS

Your property management system touches nearly every piece of guest data you have, which makes it worth extra scrutiny in any technology evaluation. Before you commit, ask:

How is it hosted and secured? Cloud-native doesn’t automatically mean secure. Ask specifically about encryption, data segmentation, and access controls.
Can they prove compliance? Any platform handling payment data should walk you through its PCI DSS v4.0 compliance, not just claim it.
How do they handle threats? Centralized monitoring and a clear incident response process say more than a marketing page ever will.
How often do they patch? Security is ongoing. The faster a vendor can close a vulnerability, the smaller your exposure window.

Security Is Part of the Guest Experience

None of this is groundbreaking. What’s changing is the expectation that it happens continuously, not occasionally. That’s a heavy lift for hotels with lean IT teams, which is exactly why the technology partners you choose matter.

A secure stay is part of a good stay. Hotels that build security into their operations aren’t just protecting data. They’re protecting the trust that brings guests back.

Prabol Bhandari is Chief Technology Officer at Stayntouch.