Digital Security 101 and 201 recommend best practices for protecting data in restaurants


Wherever and whenever data is handled—card payments, payroll and human resources records, inventory control, or loyalty programs—online criminals and hackers can attack where restaurants are most vulnerable.

Phishing, ransomware, “denial of service” attacks, and malware are only a few of the ways cyberthieves attempt to access and steal valuable data. Recovery is expensive—financially and in loss of reputation.

The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) developed the Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity with version 1.0 in 2014, and updated to version 1.1 in 2018.

The National Restaurant Association adapted this NIST Cybersecurity Framework specifically for the restaurant industry originally in 2017 and now with 2 updated resources:

Download the Digital Security 101

Download the Digital Security 201


At the NIST Framework’s core are 5 functions to reduce your risk of a data breach:

Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond and Recover

Digital Security 101 

The “Intro” to the 5 core functions in the NIST Cybersecurity Framework delivered through the restaurant operator’s lens. Provides quick overviews of:

  • How to Identify vulnerabilities in your systems, personnel access, software and hardware.
  • How to Protect against these risks.
  • How to Detect attacks on your computer systems and networks before the damage is done.  
  • How to Respond to a data breach or cyberattack on your systems or networks.
  • How to Recover faster after responding to a data security incident.

Digital Security 201

The in-depth guide to applying the best digital security protocols in restaurants

This updated resource incorporates the newest additions to the NIST 1.1 Framework including

  • The critical necessity for multi-factor authentication in transactions and data access
  • A new addition to the Identify protocols that set you up to vet the security of supply chain partners 


Digital Security 201 is sponsored by Dell Technologies.