Russian hackers lock British tourists out of their hotel rooms – and only let them back in once manager pays £1,300 ransom
Manager says 180 guests were staying at the Seehotel Jaegerwirt Hotel in Austria when hackers broke into the computer system
A LUXURY hotel was forced to cough up a ransom after Russian hackers locked hundreds of guests out of their rooms.
The four-star Seehotel Jaegerwirt Hotel in Austria confirmed 180 guests were locked in or out of their rooms during the cyber attack in December.
And in a desperate bid to free people from their rooms, staff chose to cough up a ransom of £1,270 to the hackers.
Around nine Brits were among those affected at the hotel in southern Austria.
The Russians had closed down the hotel's computer systems and demanded money in the virtual currency bitcoin.
Confirming it was the third such attack, manager Christoph Brandstaetter said: "On this latest occasion, the hotel was totally booked with 180 guests.
"We had no other choice. Neither police nor insurance can help you in cases like this.
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"The restoration of our system after the first attack in summer has cost us several thousand Euros.
";We did not get any money from the insurance so far because none of those to blame could be found.
"It was cheaper and faster for the hotel to just pay the Bitcoin.
"Every euro that is paid to blackmailers hurts us. We know that other colleagues have been attacked, who have done similarly."
And now in a bid to sort the problem once and for all, the hotel plans to get rid of electronic key cards and replace them with a traditional lock and key.
Brandstaetter added: "At the next room refurbishment, we are planning to install old-fashioned door locks with real keys.
"Just like 111 years ago at the time of our great-grandfathers."
A night with breakfast at the lakeside hotel costs around £230.
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