Travel Agencies: An Easy Target for Cyberattacks Due to Weak Security Systems

Travel Agencies: An Easy Target for Cyberattacks Due to Weak Security Systems

 

ACTA announces a renewed partnership with ACCEL PCI to help Canadian travel agencies strengthen their security system and fight cybercrime.

 

101 Security Tip for Travel Agencies

 

According to the document called Baseline Cyber Security Controls for Small and Medium Organizations prepared by the Canadian Center for Cyber Security,[1] organizations should follow the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) for all Point-of-Sale (PoS) terminals and financial systems.

 

“Despite the amount of personal data handled by Travel Agencies – credit cards, of course, but also customer information, loyalty cards, sometime passport numbers, addresses, names, birthdays, travel plans and so on – it is still common to see inadequate security measures to protect the personal information of customers” says Christian Richard, President of ACCEL PCI, a user-friendly portal that eases PCI DSS compliance and a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) for Visa and Mastercard.

 

Protect your Travel Agency’s Reputation

 

It is important that Canadian Travel Agencies invest in information security tools such as PCI DSS compliance as recommended by the Canadian Center for Cybersecurity. When doing so, Travel Agencies put in place proper procedures and employee training to protect the privacy and the security of their customer’s personal data and keep their business reputation safe. Indeed, since November 2018, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) requires that organizations report breaches to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) of Canada.

 

“ACTA recognizes that Travel Agencies need resources to fight cyberattacks – resources that are within reach both financially and in terms of information technology security literary. ACCEL PCI’s online platform was developed with small and medium sized businesses in mind,” states Heather Craig-Peddie, VP Advocacy and Member Relations ACTA. “ACCEL PCI is also backed by Ubitrak, a Canadian company specializing in the travel industry and recommended by IATA to provide PCI DSS compliance services to the travel industry worldwide,” concludes Craig-Peddie.

 

PCI Compliance is mandatory for IATA appointed Travel Agencies. ACTA members are eligible for a 20% savings using a promo code available in the Members only section of acta.ca. Non-ACTA members are eligible to receive a 5% savings using the promo codeTravel_Disc-2020 using the following link.

 

About ACTA

 

ACTA is the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies, a national member-based trade association that represents the retail travel sector of Canada’s tourism industry. Over 12,000 Travel Agents across the country work in our member agencies representing more than 80% of the travel business booked through a Travel Agency in Canada.

 

About ACCEL PCI

 

ACCEL PCI boosts the understanding of PCI DSS compliance for small-and-medium-sized merchants and guides them through the process via a cost-effective web portal that facilitates the completion of the Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ), which is a requirement for becoming PCI DSS compliant. ACCEL PCI is backed by Ubitrak Inc., a Certified Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) based in Montreal, Canada.https://www.accel-pci.com