Think twice before you use the hotel’s internet access abroad. An alert was posted by the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reports that guests staying at multiple hotels abroad have had malware loaded onto their machines without their knowledge.
The malware presents itself when a guest tries to gain access to the free internet provided by the hotel. A pop-up window will appear asking the guest if they wish to update their software, and clicking accept enables the malware to be installed. If you are promoted to update software, either close the window or check to make sure the digital certificate matches the software vendor that’s trying to conduct the update.
However, hotels are not the only potential for this attack vector. Any establishment, especially franchises, that offer free wireless internet access are a potential risk. This is because most franchises use the same equipment at all their locations, and often times are connected to the head office. If an attacker is able to compromise once hotel or chain they often are able to compromise the entire network.
