As if nasty bedspreads, glad-handing porters, turtle-paced room service and surly phone operators weren t bad enough, now comes word that sophisticated hacker networks have been targeting high-level tech execs and others in their hotel rooms.
The shenanigans began in 2007, according to the research firm .
According to the BBC story, Kaspersky s probe discovered that most of the attacks so far have taken place in Japan. Researchers also said that hotel guests in Taiwan, mainland China, Hong Kong, Russia, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Germany, the US and Ireland have been victims as well. And the cyber-security firm added that DarkHotel was well-resourced, though it did not say who exactly was behind the hacking.
According to the folks at Kaspersky, the DarkHotel scheme works like this:
1. Hacker asks targeted user to install an update to a software package shortly after they ve signed on to the Internet.
2. The install fils come with DarkHotel code slipped in.
3. To protect from detection, the hackers use bogus certificates, which are normally required for a software installation. (These certificates were ripped off from legitimate vendors and then broken into by the hackers)
4. Once inside the target s system, this is what can happen next:
As the BBC points out:
Credit: CNET.com
