Recently One of Europe' top hotel had to pay thousands in Bitcoin as ransom to cyber criminals in order to free hundreds of guest who were unable to enter in their hotel rooms because cyberhackers managed to hack their electronic key system.
Hotel managers at the Romantik Seehotel Jaegerwirt, a luxurious 4-star hotel with a beautiful lakeside setting on the Alpine Turracher Hoehe Pass in Austria were very furious with the incident and had decided to open up about the incident in public to warn others of the dangers of cybercrime. They wanted serious steps to be taken to curb such kind of activity in future. The hotel has modern IT system which included key cards for hotel doors like any other modern hotel in the industry.
Hotel staff confirmed that the hotel security system has been compromised three times, and the cyber criminals have managed to break system security three times in the past.Hackers used to take down an entire key system and the hotel guests were unable to get into their hotel rooms and new cards could not be programmed.
The latest cyber attack which happened on the opening weekend of the winter season was so huge that it had shut down all hotel computers, including all the cash desk system and the reservation system.
The hackers demanded ransom of 1,500 EUR(1,272 GBP) in Bitcoin and promised to restore the system quickly if the demanded money was paid to them.
"The house was totally booked with 180 guests, we had no other choice. Neither police nor insurance helps you in this case.", Managing Director Christoph Brandstaetter said.
"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."The manager said it was cheaper and faster for the hotel to just pay the Bitcoin.
Brandstaetter said: "Every euro that is paid to blackmailers hurts us. We know that other colleagues have been attacked, who have done similarly."
After the hackers received money, they unlocked the key registry system and all other computers, making all the systems run as normal again. But according to the hotel staff, the hackers left a back door open in the system and tried to attack the systems again.
After the third attack, the hotel administration replaced the computers and the latest security system was integrated into all the systems, and the previously vulnerable networks were decoupled.
The Seehotel Jaegerwirt, which has existed for 111 years, cybercriminals have decided to go traditional to keep away hackers from any kind of manipulation as Brandstaetter said: "We are planning at the next room refurbishment for old-fashioned door locks with real keys. Just like 111 years ago at the time of our great-grandfathers."Using cyber criminal activities is becoming increasingly commonplace, as tracing payments is much harder due to the way the cryptocurrency works.
Hotel managers at the Romantik Seehotel Jaegerwirt, a luxurious 4-star hotel with a beautiful lakeside setting on the Alpine Turracher Hoehe Pass in Austria were very furious with the incident and had decided to open up about the incident in public to warn others of the dangers of cybercrime. They wanted serious steps to be taken to curb such kind of activity in future. The hotel has modern IT system which included key cards for hotel doors like any other modern hotel in the industry.
Hotel staff confirmed that the hotel security system has been compromised three times, and the cyber criminals have managed to break system security three times in the past.Hackers used to take down an entire key system and the hotel guests were unable to get into their hotel rooms and new cards could not be programmed.
The latest cyber attack which happened on the opening weekend of the winter season was so huge that it had shut down all hotel computers, including all the cash desk system and the reservation system.
The hackers demanded ransom of 1,500 EUR(1,272 GBP) in Bitcoin and promised to restore the system quickly if the demanded money was paid to them.
"The house was totally booked with 180 guests, we had no other choice. Neither police nor insurance helps you in this case.", Managing Director Christoph Brandstaetter said.
"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."The manager said it was cheaper and faster for the hotel to just pay the Bitcoin.
Brandstaetter said: "Every euro that is paid to blackmailers hurts us. We know that other colleagues have been attacked, who have done similarly."
After the hackers received money, they unlocked the key registry system and all other computers, making all the systems run as normal again. But according to the hotel staff, the hackers left a back door open in the system and tried to attack the systems again.
After the third attack, the hotel administration replaced the computers and the latest security system was integrated into all the systems, and the previously vulnerable networks were decoupled.
The Seehotel Jaegerwirt, which has existed for 111 years, cybercriminals have decided to go traditional to keep away hackers from any kind of manipulation as Brandstaetter said: "We are planning at the next room refurbishment for old-fashioned door locks with real keys. Just like 111 years ago at the time of our great-grandfathers."Using cyber criminal activities is becoming increasingly commonplace, as tracing payments is much harder due to the way the cryptocurrency works.