Research: 31 Percent of Retail, Restaurant and Hospitality Companies Have Experienced Data Breach

New data released by Cornell University’s Center for Hospitality Research and FreedomPay, a global leader in data-driven commerce, reveals that while nearly all (96%) surveyed retail, restaurant and hospitality stakeholders are confident in their companies’ internal risk assessment processes, their satisfaction (95%) in the security of their systems is misaligned with reality, as one-third of companies (31%) have experienced a data breach in their company's history. Of companies that have been breached, 89% have been hit more than once in a year, and 69% of retail businesses have been breached upwards of three times in a year.

Check Please! How Restaurant, Retail and Hospitality Businesses are Managing Cybersecurity Risks – a joint study between Cornell and FreedomPay – is based on a new survey of small, medium, and large-size enterprises across the hospitality, retail, and food and beverage sectors.

“Especially over the past two years, cybersecurity has been top of mind for businesses as we navigate a highly complex eCommerce network,” said Chris Kronenthal, President of FreedomPay. “Retailers and hospitality businesses increasingly view their payments systems as more than transaction processing – they are important sources of data and customer insights. Merchants and consumers alike need the assurance that this data is being protected and managed properly.”

"These findings provide a baseline understanding of how key decision-makers are handling cybersecurity issues and offer key insights for optimizing and fortifying systems as we continue down this path of accelerated digital transformation," said Professor Linda Canina, the Dr. Michael Dang Director of the Center for Hospitality Research at the Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration.

With new cyber threats emerging daily both internally and externally, business leaders are juggling a full slate of concerns and challenges. Threats such as payment integrity (59%) and malware (58%) are the most cited concerns, with risk management (57%) cited as the biggest challenge leaders say their systems face. Companies also fear internal threats, with hospitality companies most frequently citing human error (86%) and lack of employee education (81%) as negatively impacting cybersecurity systems.

Businesses’ best efforts to protect themselves and customers are spurring growing complexity and system proliferation. The findings revealed three-quarters (74%) of companies use more than one cybersecurity system. Medium merchants (80%) are significantly more likely than small merchants (67%) to use more than one system. More than half of companies (56%) have many cybersecurity systems in many locations. Overall, companies are split on whether systems are governed by a single department (51%) or multiple (49%). Small merchants (57%) are significantly more likely to keep governance to one department, while large merchants (63%) are significantly more likely to have multiple departments involved.

Businesses are challenged to balance security with customer preferences, with many implementing heightened cybersecurity measures to make their customers feel more secured and reassured when making a purchase. The study found that 91% of companies believe their customers deeply care about cybersecurity while 86% believe it increases customer loyalty. Yet, companies acknowledge the inherent tradeoffs – namely, two-thirds (65%) of leaders believe that customers are annoyed by extra security measures, and they want systems to be easy to use (67%).

Budgetary concerns may also play a factor in determining any potential system enhancements – among the few (15%) that currently do not have plans to enhance their system, they are most likely to cite preventative costs (61%) and an unwillingness to have a disruption in service (52%).

Despite these roadblocks, companies have said they are increasing or have increased their IT budgets, calling out the COVID-19 pandemic and technology as driving forces. Other notable findings include:

  • In The Dark: More than one-third (35%) of surveyed leaders do not know how much of their company’s budget is spent on cybersecurity.
  • Bicameral Opinion: While 91% of respondents agree that their customers do care about cybersecurity, 48% also believe their customers do not care about cybersecurity.
  • Inaction: Nearly all (96%) companies say they value the importance of security systems to protect their data, and 85% agree that their customers would be more satisfied if they had extra security measures in place. Yet, half (50%) have either not increased their IT security budget or decreased their budget since 2019.
  • Show Me The Money: Still, companies are divided on what precautions and guidance are worth the cost. Four-fifths (83%) of companies who do use a third-party to manage and secure information say this option is “more cost-effective” for their business, while half (51%) of companies who do not use a third-party supplier cite it as being “more costly” than their current process.
  • Checking The Box? Almost all merchants (91%) are very or extremely confident that their company adequately trains end-users, relying on conferences and seminars (71%) to keep them trained and engaged. Notably, small (92%) and medium (95%) merchants are significantly more confident than their large (79%) counterparts, where the most common form of end-user engagement comes from training videos (82%).
  • Looking for a Leader: A majority of companies (87%) say they would welcome involvement from the U.S. government to fight cybersecurity threats as well as enhance policy (84%). Large merchants (threats-76%, policy-74%) and retail companies (threats-81%, policy-75%) are significantly less likely to want the U.S. government involved.

Featured

  • AI Is Now the Leading Cybersecurity Concern for Security, IT Leaders

    Arctic Wolf recently published findings from its State of Cybersecurity: 2025 Trends Report, offering insights from a global survey of more than 1,200 senior IT and cybersecurity decision-makers across 15 countries. Conducted by Sapio Research, the report captures the realities, risks, and readiness strategies shaping the modern security landscape. Read Now

  • Analysis of AI Tools Shows 85 Percent Have Been Breached

    AI tools are becoming essential to modern work, but their fast, unmonitored adoption is creating a new kind of security risk. Recent surveys reveal a clear trend – employees are rapidly adopting consumer-facing AI tools without employer approval, IT oversight, or any clear security policies. According to Cybernews Business Digital Index, nearly 90% of analyzed AI tools have been exposed to data breaches, putting businesses at severe risk. Read Now

  • Software Vulnerabilities Surged 61 Percent in 2024, According to New Report

    Action1, a provider of autonomous endpoint management (AEM) solutions, today released its 2025 Software Vulnerability Ratings Report, revealing a 61% year-over-year surge in discovered software vulnerabilities and a 96% spike in exploited vulnerabilities throughout 2024, amid an increasingly aggressive threat landscape. Read Now

  • Motorola Solutions Named Official Safety Technology Supplier of the Ryder Cup through 2027

    Motorola Solutions has today been named the Official Safety Technology Supplier of the 2025 and 2027 Ryder Cup, professional golf’s renowned biennial team competition between the United States and Europe. Read Now

  • Evolving Cybersecurity Strategies

    Organizations are increasingly turning their attention to human-focused security approaches, as two out of three (68%) cybersecurity incidents involve people. Threat actors are shifting from targeting networks and systems to hacking humans via social engineering methods, living off human errors as their most prevalent attack vector. Whether manipulated or not, human cyber behavior is leveraged to gain backdoor access into systems. This mainly results from a lack of employee training and awareness about evolving attack techniques employed by malign actors. Read Now

New Products

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.”

  • QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    The latest Qualcomm® Vision Intelligence Platform offers next-generation smart camera IoT solutions to improve safety and security across enterprises, cities and spaces. The Vision Intelligence Platform was expanded in March 2022 with the introduction of the QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC), which delivers superior artificial intelligence (AI) inferencing at the edge.

  • PE80 Series

    PE80 Series by SARGENT / ED4000/PED5000 Series by Corbin Russwin

    ASSA ABLOY, a global leader in access solutions, has announced the launch of two next generation exit devices from long-standing leaders in the premium exit device market: the PE80 Series by SARGENT and the PED4000/PED5000 Series by Corbin Russwin. These new exit devices boast industry-first features that are specifically designed to provide enhanced safety, security and convenience, setting new standards for exit solutions. The SARGENT PE80 and Corbin Russwin PED4000/PED5000 Series exit devices are engineered to meet the ever-evolving needs of modern buildings. Featuring the high strength, security and durability that ASSA ABLOY is known for, the new exit devices deliver several innovative, industry-first features in addition to elegant design finishes for every opening.