What Restaurants Need to Know About Cybersecurity

Host Barbara Castiglia spoke with litigator and cybersecurity
expert Jacey Kaps about what restaurants need to know about data
security. Kaps is a partner with Rumberger Kirk and has
been practicing law for 25 years. He became intrigued by the
world of cybersecurity and now focuses on providing legal
guidance around it. 


They first discussed the landscape for restaurants. “There has
been an uptick in cyber-attacks during the pandemic. Even with
ongoing efforts to attack it, bad actors can still avoid the
systems put in place. There are so many ways, in spite of the
counter efforts, for cyber-attacks to occur,” Kaps said. 


Overall, Kaps said restaurants are still a smaller piece of the
pie in terms of most threats. However, with more remote work and
various digital channels, there are no more access points for a
hacker to penetrate. “There’s more risk in the process now, and
the challenges are manifold in how to prevent it,” he
added. 


One area where restaurants are at a disadvantage is the
investment aspect of fighting cybersecurity. Most in the industry
are financially strapped and focusing on cutting costs. Kaps
noted that restaurants can still follow best practices and be
proactive. 


His best advice is for restaurants to have a written data
security plan and take “reasonable measures to protect data.” He
also spoke about a checklist of cybersecurity must-haves for the
formal plan. Some essential items include defining how they
collect and store data, how often updates are run on software and
firewalls, ensuring vendors are also using best practices, and
training employees on data security protocols.