Podcast: Key steps to big data security in hospitality

Hospitality is a sector that lends itself to big data analytics. Organisations can draw on multiple sources of customer information from many sources and on many subjects, ranging from room preferences to car hire and restaurant information.

At the same time, organisations may also provide access to systems to external partners, such as suppliers, but will also be required to hold credit card details securely, so big data security is a major concern also.
In this podcast, ComputerWeekly.com storage editor Antony Adshead talks with Vigitrust CEO Mathieu Gorge about big data security in hospitality and the key steps towards achieving it, including how data is classified and secured, as well as important steps to legal and regulatory compliance such as the PCI-DSS regulation.

Gorge: First of all, we should look at the specific challenges the hospitality sector might have with regards to data, and data that it might acquire; not just about its own employees and staff, but about customers and suppliers.

So, looking at customers first, a client of a hotel or restaurant or whatever, there are different types of data that you might acquire. There will be identity information, a passport or identity card, something that will allow a person to identify themselves as having booked a room, for example.

The confidentiality and integrity of the data must be maintained at all times Mathieu Gorge, Vigitrust

Then there’s going to be payment information, and there could be specific types of health information – dietary information or accessibility requirements, for example. You can see that this type of data has a value with regard to security, so the confidentiality and integrity of the data must be maintained at all times.
Then a hospitality organisation might be using a range of suppliers, some of which will need to access specific data. So you have to consider how to manage information that suppliers may gain access to.
Finally, most of the hospitality industry, especially hotels, will use a property management system that might be linked to additional services that the hotel might offer, such as access to wireless internet that might be free if you are a customer with a loyalty card.

So, you can see that the amount and different type of data that a typical hotel will actually deal with is, by nature, big data, so how they collect and classify that data is something that all security people, IT people and compliance people need to be aware of.

Gorge: The hospitality industry, given the nature of the services that it offers, needs to make sure that it classifies the information and data it holds about its customers in such a way that the lines of business that need to have access to it can do so securely and at the right time.

So, let me put that in perspective. In a hotel you will have additional services, like the rooms that people stay in, but also a bar, spa, restaurant, car valet service, car parking, and so each line of business may need access to payment information, but also to where the customer might be from or whether they are part of a loyalty scheme.

So, in terms of how that data is classified and secured, for hotels in particular as well as large chains of restaurants, there are specific challenges in how big data is structured. That’s why we talk about big data in hospitality; it’s all about managing unstructured data, making sure the right lines of business have access to it at the right time.

It’s always the same issue of striking the balance between operational improvements and security Mathieu Gorge, Vigitrust

One of the key challenges with storage for the hospitality industry has to deal with compliance with the Data Protection Act, and particularly compliance with the likes of PCI-DSS. That’s because most of the business relies on the fact that customers will be using credit cards to book in advance and pay when they leave the hotel, but also use that as an identification system when they move from one line of business within the hotel to another.

So, it’s very important that any type of payment data that needs to be stored is stored in compliance with PCI-DSS and that at if any given time the hospitality [organisation] needs to get some identification, like a passport or identity card, this is kept according to the requirements of the Data Protection Act.

Unfortunately, given the current economic climate, some hotels are not dedicating enough time or people to look after making sure that data is stored properly and access restricted on a need-to-know basis.

So, it’s always the same issue [of striking] the balance between operational improvements and security.

Having said that, the specific challenges with regard to data storage and data security in the hospitality
industry shouldn’t be underestimated. There is some good guidance from the Hospitality Networking Group, for example, and a number of LinkedIn groups for the hospitality sector. I’d highly recommend people joined those groups so they can educate themselves to make sure their data is stored properly.

Ad networks agree to take steps against online piracy

A group of U.S. companies operating Internet advertising networks has pledged to bar websites trafficking in pirated goods from using their services and to take other steps to fight online copyright infringement.

Eight companies operating online ad networks, including Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL, have agreed to best practices for fighting Internet piracy, they announced Monday.

The ad networks will prohibit websites “principally dedicated to selling counterfeit goods or engaging in copyright piracy” from advertising with them, according to the best practices. The networks will also allow copyright owners to file complaints about piracy websites running ads, in a process reminiscent of copyright takedown notices under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

However, the ad networks may consider “any credible evidence” provided by the accused website in deciding whether stop running its advertising.

Victoria Espinel

President Barack Obama’s administration “strongly supports voluntary efforts by the private sector to reduce infringement and we welcome the initiative brought forward by the companies to establish industry-wide standards to combat online piracy and counterfeiting by reducing financial incentives associated with infringement,” Victoria Espinel, the U.S. intellectual property enforcement coordinator, wrote in a blog post. “We believe that this is a positive step and that such efforts can have a significant impact on reducing online piracy and counterfeiting.” Ad networks and copyright owners must also protect privacy, free speech and fair process in their antipiracy efforts, Espinel wrote. “We encourage the companies participating to continue to work with all interested stakeholders, including creators, rightholders, and public interest groups, to ensure that their practices are transparent and fully consistent with the democratic values that have helped the Internet to flourish,” she wrote. The agreement will help prevent copyright infringement, participants said. “Ultimately, we want to create and maintain a healthy online space, promote innovation, and protect intellectual property,” Laura Covington, Yahoo’s vice president for intellectual property policy, wrote in a blog post. “The best practices we have committed to will help all of us get there.”

The Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America both praised the agreement.

“The presence of advertisements by well-known brands on rogue websites that illegally distribute movies and television shows creates the false impression that such sites are legitimate, fostering consumer confusion and harm,” Chris Dodd, the MPAA’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement. “The announcement today is recognition by online advertising networks of the important role they play to help ensure a safe and secure Internet for all.”

Gadgetwise Blog: A Sensor Steps Up to Improve Your Stride

Polar’s Stride Sensor sends signals to a Bluetooth Smart-equipped phone that monitors your progress while you run.
Polar’s new Stride Sensor allows runners to collect information about their stride and then link this information to a phone app that calculates speed and distance data through GPS. It connects to the phone through Bluetooth Smart, and is helpful for people trying to track calories or improve their running performance.

Using the device just a few times, I was able to take 30 seconds off my mile time by taking smaller steps. For a runner, that is pure gold.

The ovoid, $80 Stride Sensor is about the size of half a small hen’s egg, larger than the Garmin model, which connects through an Ant+ signal.

The Stride, which can be used in tandem with a heart rate monitor, sends signals to a Bluetooth Smart-equipped phone (later-model iPhones and Samsung Galaxys, according to the Bluetooth Web site). The phone, using the Polar training app, follows and charts your progress. While you are running, it gives audible guidance, telling you when you cross set distance markers, or when you reach a target distance or time, or burn a specific number of calories.

But before this can benefit the most serious runners, it needs some improvement. For maximum accuracy, the sensor needs to be calibrated on a one-mile course. No matter how many times I set it, it remained inaccurate by the same tenth of a mile. That is enough of an inaccuracy to make the sensor nearly useless to a competitive athlete. A company spokesman said Polar was looking into the problem, which may in fact be with the app, or the phone GPS.

Kerry steps up shuttle talks with Abbas and Netanyahu

1 of 3. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (R) gestures as he meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem June 28, 2013.

JERUSALEM - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry accelerated his Middle East shuttle diplomacy on Friday in the hope of persuading Israel and the Palestinians to resume direct peace negotiations.

After seeing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan, Kerry flew by helicopter to Jerusalem for evening talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In a sign that he may be making progress in his mission to bring the sides together, a State Department official announced late on Friday that Kerry would return to Amman for another meeting with Abbas on Saturday, then return to Israel for additional meetings.

The frenzied back-and-forth is reminiscent of Henry Kissinger's shuttle diplomacy as secretary of state to mediate conflicts in the Middle East throughout the 1970s.

The State Department official said a three-hour meeting with Netanyahu on Friday, the second in as many days, involved a "detailed and substantive conversation about the way forward".

Israeli President Shimon Peres praised Kerry for his determination.

"I know this is difficult, there are many problems, but as far as I'm concerned I can see how (among) people, there is a clear majority for the peace process, a two-state solution, and a great expectation that you will do it and that you can do it," he told Kerry.

Direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians broke down in 2010 in a dispute over Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, territories that the Palestinians seek for a future state.

Abbas has insisted that building in the settlements, viewed as illegal by most world powers, be halted before talks resume. He also wants Israel to recognize the boundary of the West Bank as the basis for the future Palestine's border.

MORE TALKS AHEAD

Abbas's spokesman Nabil Abu Rdaineh said a "clear response" was needed from Israel before talks could resume.

Israel wants to keep settlement blocs under any future peace accord and has rejected Abbas's demands as preconditions. But it has also quietly slowed down housing starts in settlements.

Palestinian and U.S. officials did not immediately comment on the results of the Abbas-Kerry meeting. Zeev Elkin, Israel's deputy foreign minister, placed the peacemaking onus on Abbas.

Asked on Israel Radio whether Kerry's visit - his fifth - could bring a breakthrough, Elkin said: "The only one who knows the answer to that question is not Kerry, nor Netanyahu, but Abu Mazen (Abbas)."

Kerry has divulged little of his plan to bring the sides together, but has said he would not have returned to the region if he did not believe there could be progress.

He is also keen to clinch a peacemaking deal before the United Nations General Assembly, which has already granted de facto recognition to a Palestinian state, convenes in September.

Netanyahu is concerned that the Palestinians, in the absence of direct peace talks, could use the U.N. session as a springboard for further statehood moves circumventing Israel.

State Department officials believe the sides will return to negotiations once there is an agreement on confidence-building measures - for example, partial Israeli amnesty for Palestinian security prisoners - and a formula for fresh talks.

Part of the incentive for the Palestinians to return to talks is a $4 billion economic plan led by former British prime minister Tony Blair, whom Kerry also met in Jordan.

The plan involves investments from large private-sector firms that will boost jobs and spur economic growth in agriculture, construction and tourism.

Detroit emergency manager steps up pace in city restructuring

Detroit's emergency manager issued a flurry of announcements on Thursday addressing union contracts, power distribution and an errant council president as he steps up the pace of efforts to tackle the city's massive $18.5 billion debt problem.

Kevyn Orr stripped City Council President Charles Pugh of his authority and pay, terminated two union contracts that were about to expire so as to allow room to renegotiate them and announced an agreement with power company DTE Energy Co. to take over power distribution to local institutions, including the public school system.

In a statement, Orr said the power distribution operations of Detroit's Public Lighting Department have run at an average annual loss of roughly $30 million for the past five years and that DTE would be better placed to take them over.

"The 100-year-old PLD system has not received any investment in nearly a decade," Orr said. "Exiting the electric business and letting a recognized expert such as DTE run it is a sensible course of action to take."

DTE spokesman Alejandro Bodipo-Memba said the agreement should result in "significant improvements" for the 115 institutions and businesses affected.

Orr was appointed by Michigan Republican Governor Rick Snyder to try to tackle Detroit's finances and create a sustainable model for a city whose population of 700,000 numbers not much over a third of its peak more than half a century ago.

On June 14 he made a proposal to creditors that would pay them pennies on the dollar and defaulted on a $39.7 million payment on certificates of participation. He has said a number of times that he would like to avoid bankruptcy for Detroit, but will file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection if need be.

Douglas Bernstein, a partner at law firm Plunkett Cooney in Detroit suburb Bloomfield Hills, said Orr's moves on the union contract and power distribution were common sense moves.

"Orr is just doing what he needs to do," he said. "He's checking off the things that need to get done and what he's doing makes sense."

"OLIVE BRANCH"

The emergency manager also announced Thursday that letters were sent on June 25 to provide notice that contracts with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and the Detroit Police Lieutenants and Sergeants Association would be terminated on July 6.

Those contracts were about to expire and under U.S. labor law, if Orr had failed to terminate them they would have rolled over for year and he would have been unable to negotiate new terms until next year.

Edward McNeil, assistant to Albert Garrett, who heads AFSCME in Michigan, said "this is just standard practice."

"If either side wants to change the terms, this is what you do," he said.

McNeil said the AFSCME contract in question only affected 911 operators, which account for 100 of the 2,000 employees the union represents in Detroit.

In his statement Thursday, Orr said it is possible "new terms could be issued in the future as part of the city's restructuring efforts."

John Beck, a professor of labor relations at Michigan State University, said that signaled a willingness to negotiate.

"That is kind of an olive branch and it shows he would like to talk before he dictates terms," Beck said. "These people are important to the fabric of the city and you want them on your side for years to come if you want to succeed."

PUGH'S POWERS, PAY REMOVED

The only move by Orr on Thursday that unrelated to his task of trying to restructure Detroit's finances was the decision to strip Charles Pugh of his salary and powers.

Pugh missed the last two council meetings and on Tuesday said was taking medical leave for up to four weeks.

Orr had ordered Pugh to return to his $77,000-a-year job by the end of the business day Wednesday or resign.

Calls to Pugh's office were not returned. He disabled his social media accounts last week.

Pugh will be paid through July 7. He will keep his health care benefits until he leaves office on December 31 at the end of his term.

Two members of the City Council have also announced plans to leave after the end of this week. Their departures and Pugh's loss of authority will bring the council down to six acting members.

Mayor Dave Bing has announced he will not seek re-election this year. While Orr's powers as emergency manager mean that he is the ultimate authority in the city, Bing and the City Council still run the city day to day. The loss of several members will make it difficult for the council to conduct business.

Follow me on Twitter @sajilpl

Miley Cyrus Steps Out in Chicago Bulls Jersey and Short Shorts

Miley Cyrus wore a Chicago Bulls jersey in Los Angeles, California on June 23, 2013.

She can't stop. Miley Cyrus is known for her provocative, carefree looks, but this risque daytime ensemble is a real head-scratcher. The leggy stunner stepped out on Sunday, June 23, in L.A. wearing a backwards baseball hat, a Chicago Bulls basketball jersey, white shorts so teeny-tiny they were barely visible, and Saint Laurent striped ankle-strap high-heel sandals.

PHOTOS: Miley Cyrus' very short shorts

The singer accessorized with several strands of gold necklaces, stacked rings and bracelets, and a chunky, blinged-out watch. Red lipstick and matching long red nails completed the bold look.

PHOTOS: Miley's raciest outfits

Short shorts have become a wardrobe staple for the uninhibited singer, who's been frequently spotted rocking tight daisy dukes, but her hemlines seem to be creeping up even higher lately. In her video for her new single "We Can't Stop," she dances and writhes in various revealing ensembles, including a white leotard onesie.

PHOTOS: Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth's love story

This isn't the first time Cyrus has shown some love for a Chicago sports team. The songstress tweeted a shot of herself last week wearing a Chicago White Sox jersey, high heels, and — naturally — no pants.

Tell Us: Do you like her outfit?