CHICAGO— Hyatt International is determined to protect the privacy and integrity of its customer data while at the same time offering its international locations a permanent business Internet connection to its back office Local Area Network (LAN). To do so, the hotel company has enlisted the help of managed security services provider VeriSign Inc., ink-ing a multi-year contract with the company to proactively monitor and manage Hyatt’s advanced security infrastructure, as well as establish and maintain a secure and trusted network to protect its data against security threats. VeriSign, which was selected after extensive research by Hyatt International, stood out for a couple of tangible reasons, according to Mark Retnam, director of global communications technology at Hyatt. “We were impressed with their processes. [Notably] how they track security incidents through their organization to their security operations center in Chicago. Also, they have a unique view to the Internet, we’re hoping to leverage that in order to react [to security concerns],” he said. While Hyatt previously provided Internet connectivity to guests in its international locations, due to security concerns the official company policy prevented these locations from having a permanent connection to the LAN and the information contained therein. Upon implementation of the system, these locations will be afforded a permanent connection, enabling a 24/7 link to applications and information centrally hosted in Chicago. “[VeriSign] enables our hotels to use the Internet, and secure ourselves from the Internet,” Retnam said. Hyatt will utilize the company’s VeriSign Intelligence and Control Services for Network Security, including managed Firewall and Virtual Private Network capabilities designed to enable the secure flow of information between its corporate and international sites. Retnam said the implementation of the system has been quite easy, in fact, requiring no more than the installation of a black box at the property level, and a slightly higher end box at its corporate headquarters here. In fact, a greater challenge than the installation in the case of some countries is that it can take as long as 2 to 3 months to get clearance for a firewall, he said. In addition to the hotel here, a property in South America and the Middle East are currently using the services with plans for such locations as Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, and Mexico City to be enabled with the system by the end of 2004. While Retnam said that different hotels are at different stages, he is hopeful that all will be up to speed by the end of next year with the VeriSign system. He added that he believes “the system will sell itself” and the company would rather not put a corporate mandate in place for the remaining properties to force compliance.
