7 Steps to Secure Your Event Ticketing Process & Registration

Believe it or not, corporate events make prime targets for cybercriminals and bad actors. The event ticketing process is the number one target. Whether running a face-to-face, virtual, or hybrid event, you must safeguard your incumbent technology stack and integrated solutions from attacks. Otherwise, you may be risking sensitive customer data falling into the wrong hands.

Cyber attacks Can Happen Anywhere Online

Cyberattack methods are growing and evolving every day. Because of this, it’s imperative that businesses adopt a security-first mindset when organizing their events. Event organizers should be looking at all online aspects of their events, from registration and check-in, to scheduling and marketing communications.

One of the key components of an event organizer’s attack surface is the technology associated with the event registration and ticketing processes. If appropriate security measures are not implemented from the outset, data breaches can occur. This leads to issues ranging from compromised customer information to fraudulent ticket sales.

If you are running a corporate event, be it a sales expo, networking meeting, trade show, or conference, it’s vital that you understand the possible vulnerabilities within your event management infrastructure. This means first making a list of any exploitative weak points in your tech systems. Then, you’ll want to plan preventative measures you can take to protect your own brand, plus any suppliers, and, of course, your attendees.

This guide looks at some of the top cyber security risks to be aware of when managing your B2B event and, in particular, your event ticketing process and registration.

Breaches From Phishing or Social Engineering Attacks

Phishing remains one of the biggest and most frequent cyber threats to businesses of all sectors. There are an estimated 3.4 billion phishing emails sent every day. Hackers methodically craft these seemingly innocuous emails to deceive users into thinking that the ‘sender’ legitimately needs access to user accounts or data. Users are tricked into thinking that requests come from known parties, not realizing that they have been deceived.

When a bad actor gains access to data stored in ticketing and registration systems, customer data like names, email addresses, phone numbers, financial information, and more can be compromised and exploited. Staff training and awareness are crucial. Train your team to identify and report any suspicious or otherwise harmful messages. Event organizers can also assess which parts of ticketing systems or networks are most prone to targeted phishing attacks or malware installations using third-party penetration testing solutions. These services can identify weak points and give actionable suggestions to strengthen your defenses.

Insecure Data Storage and Transmission

Event organizers need to keep personal and payment information of each customer’s ticket purchase secure. Having a record and receipt of the transaction is pivotal. This usually means your event data is transmitted and stored in a digital cloud infrastructure. According to recent statistics, 45% of data breaches have occurred on cloud-based platforms.

If this cloud storage solution is not encrypted correctly and lacks data security controls, the sensitive data is left vulnerable at multiple touchpoints. Not only is it at risk of interception when transactions are made, but also as it moves to and from multiple servers. Deploying HTTP across your website and ticketing platform – with a valid TLS or SSL certificate – will ensure that standard HTTP requests are undecipherable, with data encrypted at rest and in transit.

Outdated and Unpatched Ticketing Software

Ticketing software, like most other programs, requires ongoing maintenance, updates, and patching to ensure optimum stability and performance. Install regular patches on your proprietary technology to ensure that you address any known vulnerabilities. This will also ensure your customer data is not susceptible to compromise.

However, using outdated platforms that no longer receive managed updates poses an inherent security risk. Vulnerabilities are more easily exploited this way. Event organizers should proactively maintain their ticketing solutions and apply patches immediately when prompted to address any known vulnerabilities. If you are using outdated platforms that are no longer supported by developers, migrate and update to solutions that offer sufficient security.

Learn more about Attendease’s secure registration and ticketing platform here.

Lack of Proper Authentication

Authenticating across all endpoints within your event management platform and any third-party integrations requires users to enter multiple usernames and passwords. Irrespective of industry, users are overwhelmingly guilty of reusing familiar passwords across multiple systems and applications. This is easier with organizations that fail to implement clear, strong password policies.

Hackers exposed over 24 billion passwords in 2022 alone, with more than 80% of confirmed breaches pointing to weak, reused, or stolen passwords. Hackers can often initiate brute-force attacks to compromise logins and move laterally across systems with fewer passwords to guess. If your ticketing platform makes it easy for users to enter basic passwords, or if you don’t have an established secure password policy, you’re inviting hackers in. Because of this, event organizers should implement a strong policy across your infrastructure by enforcing complex, unique passwords for each user login. Back these up with enterprise-wide, multi-factor authentication (MFA) to prompt users to verify their information and login attempts. Prompting users to enter one-time passwords (OTPs) or biometrics to validate requests can block an estimated 99.9% of modern automated cyber attacks.

PCI DSS and Non-Compliance

Processing credit card payments online requires your business to adhere to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS). Failure to comply can lead to hefty monthly fines, sometimes as high as six-figure sums, depending on the size of your organization and the seriousness of non-compliance.

Validate all your ticketing payment controls and gateways to ensure sufficient vulnerability management, access restrictions, data encryption, and more. Identify any gaps, ensuring you only collect the minimum amount of customer data during the checkout process. Be sure to communicate how you use data and outline processes for deletion. Transparency is key when handling consumer and attendee data for your event. Maintaining an open, proactive approach will provide much-needed reassurance that you’re acting lawfully and ethically with data protection laws.

Mitigating Event Risks Ahead of Time

Proactive planning and due diligence is key to ensuring your event runs smoothly. These steps can protect your event from hackers or data hiccups:

1. Conduct security assessments ahead of time to identify weak points in ticketing software and knowledge gaps in your team.
   
   
2. Initiate regular, comprehensive security training. This will ensure your team is skilled and capable of recognizing key threats like phishing or social engineering.
   
   
3. Create detailed data security policies and incident response plans. Clearly outline and communicate your team’s specific roles in threat reporting and containment.
   
   
4. Validate your third-party software thoroughly, ensuring that you understand its security policies.
   
   
5. Upgrade from legacy, non-supported solutions into industry-leading event management tools like Attendease that support your event goals and offer premium protection.
   
   
6. Maintain regular updating and patching schedules for your own tools. Plus, work with companies who have their own frequent updates, to ensure optimum stability of systems and integrated software.
   
   
7. Implement strong, unique password policies for all users.

Following these steps will give you a much stronger baseline level of security for your event ticketing process. If you need more advice on management or other solutions, Attendease can help. Book a demo with us today!