StrongKey, a cybersecurity company who makes breaches irrelevant with solutions built on open source hardware-based key management, was selected to collaborate with the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCOE, under the U.S. Department of Commerce) in the Securing Property Management Systems project to develop practical, interoperable cybersecurity approaches that address the real-world needs of complex and Information Technology (IT) systems.
Hospitality organizations rely on Property Management Systems (PMS) for daily tasks, planning, and record keeping. As the operations hub, the PMS interfaces with several services and components within a hotel’s IT system, such as Point-of-Sale (POS) systems, door locks, Wi-Fi networks, and other guest service applications. Adding to the complexity of connections, external business partners’ components and services are also typically connected to the PMS, such as on-premise spas or restaurants, online travel agents, and customer relationship management partners or applications (on-premise or cloud-based). The numerous connections to and users of the PMS could provide a broader surface for attack by malicious actors. Demonstrating methods to improve the security of the PMS can help protect the business from network intrusions that might lead to data breaches and fraud.
The NCCoE aims to help hospitality organizations implement stronger security measures within and around the PMS, with a focus on the POS system through network segmentation, point-to-point encryption, data tokenization, multifactor authentication for remote and partner access, network and user behavior analytics, and business-only usage restrictions. NCCoE cybersecurity experts will collaborate with members of the hospitality sector and vendors of cybersecurity technologies to develop a reference design addressing this challenge. This project will produce a NIST Cybersecurity Practice Guide—a freely available description of the solution and practical steps needed to effectively secure the PMS and its many connections within the hotel IT system.
"StrongKey is excited to work with the NCCoE, once again leveraging its extensive cybersecurity experience in everything from protecting sensitive payments and health data to integrating with complex manufacturing processes and industrial IoT equipment," says COO Jake Kiser. The cybersecurity company works with organizations across industries to guard access with strong authentication, to protect against tampering with digital signatures, and to secure sensitive data with tokenized encryption and encrypted file management.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT HERE: Securing Property Management Systems
About the NCCoE: The NCCoE, part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), is a collaborative hub where industry organizations, government agencies, and academic institutions work together to address businesses' most pressing cybersecurity issues. This public-private partnership enables the creation of practical cybersecurity solutions for specific industries, as well as for broad, cross-sector technology challenges.
PR Contact:
Pashara Black
StrongKey
