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Hackers broke into hotel's electronic key system - and demanded a ransom
In a chilling reminder of the vulnerability of connected electronic systems, hackers broke into an electronic key system in a European hotel – and the hoteliers paid a ransom.
Staff at the Romantik Seehotel Jaegerwirt resort in Austria were forced to pay a ransom of nearly £1300 in Bitcoin to regain access to the system, and the ability to issue new key cards.
Managing Director Christoph Brandstaetter told The Local: ‘The house was totally booked with 180 guests, we had no other choice. Neither police nor insurance help you in this case.
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‘The restoration of our system after the first attack in summer has cost us several thousand Euros. We did not get any money from the insurance so far because none of those to blame could be found.’
Reports that guests were locked inside their rooms were exaggerated, according to British computer expert Graham Cluley – but the hotel’s key system was left unabble to issue new cards.
Managing Director Christopher Brandstaetter, ‘Since the locking system must work even in the event of power failure, the guests in the hotel almost did not notice the incident. We simply could not issue new keycards because the computers were encrypted.’
