You’re probably already planning your summer vacation, if you haven’t already. Well, even though hotels are one of the favorite options among travelers, the truth is that they hide all kinds of risks for you and your devices. In fact, cybersecurity experts warn that cybercriminals can use different methods to steal your personal data from hotel rooms.
Even if it looks like a lie, a hotel room is not such a safe place neither for you nor for your devices. You’ve probably already heard about public networks or hotel WiFi being unreliable because of cybercriminals. The problem is that it is not the only danger that is hidden in this type of accommodation.
To give you an idea, here are a series of risks that you can run when it comes to connect a device to your Wi-Fi network or even staying in a hotel room.
The hotel’s Wi-Fi
As tempting as it sounds, don’t spend vacation data. The Wi-Fi connection of the hotel room is at great risk. More than anything because cybercriminals can use this connection to steal the passwords and personal information of those users who connect to this wireless network. To do this, they can use two techniques, one is through malware that they install on mobile phones or devices as soon as they connect to WiFi and another is by creating a fake access point. In either case, they use it to steal private information.
Malware
Not only can they install malware on your mobile via WiFi, they can also trick you into installing it yourself with a little trick. Cybercriminals will pose as the hotel to get you to install a malicious software on the device and thus have full control of the smartphone, computer or equipment you have. To achieve this, they are in charge of inserting malicious code into the hotel server in order to be able to address the guests directly.
USB charger
In the rooms or in the hall we no longer only find the typical plugs to charge the mobile, there are already many hotels that also opt for having a USB port so that trips can charge the phone without problems.
The problem here is that a cybercriminal could have modified the ports to install malware and carry out an attack called juice jacking. In this way, they can manage to steal passwords, credit card information, address, name and other user data. So it is always advisable to use the plug of a lifetime.
The Smart TV in the room
Not all hotels have a Smart TV, but in your case you are going to stay in one that, if it has a smart TV, pays a lot of attention. Basically because it can serve as a gateway for cybercriminals. They could not only listen to guests through microphone, but if you have a camera you could see them without problems. For this reason, security experts recommend disconnecting the Smart TV if it is not going to be used. In this way it will not be so dangerous to sleep in a hotel room neither for you nor for your loved ones.