Transition to IP technology impacting command-and-control arena, panelists say

But all panelists acknowledged that one of the biggest challenges surrounding the IP transition is protecting these critical systems from cyberattacks.

“Our biggest concerns these days—besides any terrorist attack, a lone-wolf attack or an active shooter, obviously—are cyber attacks,” Logue said. “Most of the major resorts and corporations now have large cybersecurity components inside their IT systems and IT groups. Most of our efforts are pointed toward point-of -sale areas and guest-info areas, such as registration.

“Obviously, we’re PCI-compliant, but the amount of hits that are coming in and the amount of attacks sometimes can number in the thousands for one day.”

Magnussen echoed this sentiment, noting that cybersecurity promises to be even more challenging as the Internet of Things (IoT) environment continues to develop, with as many as 50 billion connected devices projected by 2020.

“From a security aspect, it’s almost a little bit scary,” Magnussen said. “You will have companies that will provide high-quality, well-engineered products that will be sold at a higher cost. Unfortunately—especially for the residential market—you’re going to have lower-cost devices that are going to be pretty inexpensive but probably don’t spend as much time on security. Having those devices in houses and residences all over the country and then possibly being able to be hacked.

“You also have to keep in mind that most people that sell network appliances for the residential market generally turn off a lot of the security aspects of it, because it complicates the installation—they really want you to be able to get it home, plug it in and turn it on.”

Indeed, the experience with residential wireless routers is that many default IDs and passwords are not changed when the product is installed—a scenario that is even more likely with a low-cost IoT device, Magnussen said.

 “They always set a default user ID and password that, unfortunately, a lot of people don’t change. If they’re not changed, things like that are going to be potential back doors and bring up the exact issue you’ve just mentioned.”

Sponsored by Avtec, the complete webinar—entitled “The Evolving World of Command and Control”—is available on demand with free registration.