More than 22 million U.S. travelers self-report as being the victim of a cyberattack through their business with hotels according to the Morphisec 2019 Hospitality Guest Threat Index released today by Morphisec, the world leader in Moving Target Defense for the enterprise and mid-market. The index also found 70% of travelers don't believe the hotels they stay at are investing enough in cybersecurity and nearly half note their trust in a hotel's cyber defenses influences if they book a stay with them.

The Morphisec 2019 Hospitality Guest Threat Index surveyed 1,000 consumers, weighted for the U.S. population over the age of 18, to examine how the increasing amount of hospitality cyberattacks and the threat of hackers targeting vulnerable Point-of-Sale (POS) systems within hotels and restaurants is impacting the mindset of consumers. Earlier this year, Morphisec discovered FIN8, a cybercrime group most known for targeting the retail industry, was actively targeting POS systems within hospitality companies in the U.S. and abroad.

Additional Highlights from the 2019 Hospitality Guest Threat Index include:

-Almost 60% of consumers say restaurant POS (point-of-sale) systems are the most susceptible to cyberattacks within the hospitality industry

-Meanwhile, 40% of travelers believe WiFi breaches pose the most significant threat during their hotel stay

-Millennials (24-35-year-olds) believe they are most vulnerable to a cybersecurity breach when staying at a traditional hotel rather than when booking with Airbnb

-Comparatively, 60% of baby boomers (65+) say they are most vulnerable to a cybersecurity breach when booking with Airbnb

-More than 25 million U.S. consumers self-reported that a restaurant visit has cost them a data breach along with the price of their meal

"October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month and as hospitality companies prepare for the busy holiday travel season, they need to move cybersecurity preparedness to the top of their to-do lists for their growingly leery guests," said Andrew Homer, VP of Security Strategy at Morphisec. "Increasingly attackers are targeting weakly defended point-of-sale systems as an entry point into the broader hospitality organization network. With many POS devices in the hospitality industry still running on Windows 7 or even Windows XP-based embedded operating systems, they are increasingly vulnerable to breaches, and cybercrime groups are taking notice."