Cyber security experts reveal that 5% of hotel rooms in the world are piratable.
It is the electronic locks of 40,000 hotels around the world that would be compromised, according to the study of F-Secure specialists. The size security flaw concerns certain models of Assa Abloy brand locks.
In total, between 3 and 6% of hotel rooms in the world would be affected by this risk of piracy. Once exploited, the flaw can neutralize the electronic lock and enter any room ... To achieve such a feat, the maneuver is to create from scratch a Master Key, able to open all rooms and secure rooms of a hotel. And of course, this key does not leave a trace.
The creation of the pass starts with a simple electronic key of the target hotel. Even inactive cards are exploitable. A device can then create copies derived from the original key, easily activated. The cost is minimal: a few euros only, from the moment the hacker has the reprogramming device in question. Since the revelation of the flaw, a security patch has been posted for download. Charge concerned hotels to update their information systems. To reassure hotel guests, the F-Secure blog explains that, for the time being, no one would have exploited this flaw.
