Canadian Hospitality Group Strengthens Market Confidence Through Comprehensive Cyber Audit and Attestation Program
The Challenge
HarborLights Hospitality Group, a national hotel and resort management company, began facing intensified scrutiny from clients, partners, and regulators over its cybersecurity and data protection practices. Despite maintaining strong technical safeguards, the company lacked a unified audit and attestation framework capable of demonstrating compliance with evolving privacy, operational, and data-handling standards.
A global travel platform partner initiated a due diligence review that uncovered gaps in system access records, vendor risk management documentation, and incident response testing. These deficiencies delayed renewal of multi-year distribution contracts and raised insurer concerns over HarborLights’ cyber readiness. The absence of verified third-party attestation also jeopardized ISO/IEC 27001 recertification and impacted eligibility for government hospitality grants requiring validated cybersecurity assurance.
Internally, audit preparation was fragmented. Departments maintained isolated compliance records, and control testing was inconsistent across corporate, franchise, and guest operations. Leadership recognized that without a structured audit and attestation framework, existing controls could not be reliably verified, undermining both compliance assurance and customer trust under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and ISO standards.
Our Solution
Our Audit and Attestation team was retained to design and implement a Hospitality Cyber Audit and Compliance Validation Program tailored to the organization’s multi-brand operational environment.
The engagement began with a full control environment review, mapping policies, technical safeguards, and vendor systems against ISO/IEC 27001, SOC 2 Type II, and Canadian Cyber Security Standards. This baseline assessment identified critical assurance gaps in data protection, vendor oversight, and incident management.
Key initiatives included:
– Development of a unified Audit and Attestation Framework integrating IT, guest services, and vendor environments.
– Independent control testing and evidence validation across property management systems (PMS), payment platforms, and reservation networks.
– Implementation of real-time compliance dashboards to monitor audit progress, evidence collection, and insurance reporting requirements.
– Coordination with external certification bodies to streamline ISO/IEC 27001 recertification and achieve SOC 2 Type II readiness.
– Delivery of an Executive Attestation Report verifying data integrity, privacy compliance, and operational resilience for key stakeholders and insurers.
This structured approach transformed HarborLights’ fragmented documentation into a verifiable, audit-ready control environment that strengthened both compliance posture and stakeholder confidence.
The Value
Within six months, HarborLights achieved measurable results that enhanced compliance efficiency and organizational credibility:
– Successful renewal of ISO/IEC 27001 certification and SOC 2 Type II readiness validation within audit deadlines.
– 65% reduction in audit preparation time through centralized dashboards and standardized evidence workflows.
– Renewal of multi-million-dollar hospitality and travel platform contracts, supported by verified audit attestations.
– 20% reduction in cyber insurance premiums following insurer verification of control maturity.
– Elevated brand trust through transparent reporting and verifiable cybersecurity assurance, enhancing guest confidence and regulatory standing.
By embedding continuous audit readiness into daily operations, HarborLights transformed compliance from a reactive process into a proactive driver of resilience and business growth.
Implementation Roadmap
1. Assessment (Weeks 1–3): Conduct control readiness review and collect baseline compliance documentation.
2. Framework Alignment (Weeks 4–6): Map controls to ISO/IEC 27001, SOC 2, and PIPEDA; define audit evidence and validation criteria.
3. Testing and Validation (Weeks 7–12): Perform independent control testing across IT, PMS, and vendor systems.
4. Attestation (Weeks 13–16): Produce executive audit and attestation reports for clients, insurers, and regulators.
5. Continuous Assurance (Ongoing): Maintain compliance dashboards, perform quarterly control reviews, and support annual recertification audits.
