Austrian Hackers Hold Hotel Ransom By Locking All The Doors

NY Times- The ransom demand arrived one recent morning by email, after about a dozen guests were locked out of their rooms at the lakeside Alpine hotel in Austria.

The electronic key system at the picturesque Romantik Seehotel Jaegerwirt had been infiltrated, and the hotel was locked out of its own computer system, leaving guests stranded in the lobby, causing confusion and panic.

“Good morning?” the email began… It went on to demand a ransom of two Bitcoins, or about $1,800, and warned that the cost would double if the hotel did not comply with the demand by the end of the day, Jan. 22.

Mr. Brandstaetter said the email included details of a “Bitcoin wallet”… and ended with the words, “Have a nice day!”

With the 111-year-old hotel brimming with eager skiers, hikers and vacationers, some having paid about $530 for a suite with a panoramic view and sauna, Mr. Brandstaetter said he decided to cave in.

Picture this: you’re staying at a hotel, you’ve finished dinner after a long day of hiking because your girlfriend wanted to try her new camera. You’re exhausted and a little drunk. You have to walk up 3 flights of stairs to your room because the hotel is “quaint” and refuses to install elevators like an Amish commune. You get to your door, knowing the bed is just a few feet away, and… the key doesn’t work. Red lights on the electronic lock. You flip the card around a few times, start doubting yourself. Did I keep it next to my cell phone? No, separate pockets. What the fuck is going on? And then the anger sets in. This fucking hotel. I’m never coming back, never going hiking, breaking up with this girl for making me come here. Even the breakfast sucks.

We’ve all been there. Having to return to the front desk to get a new key is grounds for an evisceration on Yelp. In terms of inconvenience, it’s on par with bed bugs. These hackers know this. They’ve stayed in hotels before.  That’s what makes this crime so brilliant: they decided to exploit one of the most poignant human frustrations, didn’t ask for too much money, and demanded payment through untraceable internet toy money. Of course the hotel acquiesced.

How about the email though– “Good morning?” That question mark is incredible. It says, “hey, is it really a good morning? Not for you, Mr. hotel manager.” Then ends it with the “have a nice day!” punch to really drive the point home. What rogues! What scoundrels! It’s like Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Bastards, carrying out some extremely evil deeds while maintaining a perfectly polite demeanor.

To guard against future attacks, however, [the manager] said the Romantik Seehotel Jaegerwirt was considering replacing its electronic keys with old-fashioned door locks and real keys of the type used when his great-grandfather founded the hotel. “The securest way not to get hacked,” he said, “is to be offline and to use keys.”

Great lesson for you kids out there: if you don’t want your phone hacked and your nudes leaked, take your nudes with a polaroid and burn the pictures when you’re done. Revert to Stone Age information-sharing. It’s inconvenient but it sure is safer.