Guests of a hotels luxurious in Austria went through moments of panic last week after being barred from entering their rooms, with hotel management paying 1500 euros in bitcoins (virtual currency unit) to cybercriminals.
Os hackers that invaded the electronic key system of the Romantik Seehotel Jaegerwirt, a hotel with daily rates of up to $ 530, and the malware used by hackers to attack the property's electronic locks is ransomware.
Ransomware is a type of malicious software that kidnaps the victim's computer and collects a cash value for the ransom. Usually, the payment is by the virtual currency bitcoin, as it is very difficult to track down the criminal who will receive the value.
The malicious system also interfered with the rest of the Hotel's computer system, as they were never able to make new electronic cards to enter their rooms, the payment system was also affected, which made it difficult for many customers to check out.
Christoph Brandstätter, the hotel manager told the publication that the hackers' message required payment of two bitcoins, or about 1.500 euros. If the ransom was not paid by the end of January 22, the amount would double.
The management of the hotel in Austria, however, does not want to know about electronic locks anymore. After the recovery of the system, the hotel manager said that the property will once again use traditional locks.
After the transfer of 1.500 euros, the hackers allowed the systems to return to normal.
