Russia-linked Fancy Bear Group Tied to Hotel Spying

A security firm linked a recent wave of hacked hotel Wi-Fi networks to one of the groups suspected of breaching the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 presidential election, according to Wired.

The group, known as Fancy Bear or APT28, used tools allegedly stolen from the National Security Agency to conduct widespread surveillance on higher-end hotels that were likely to attract corporate or other high-value targets, the cybersecurity firm FireEye reported. FireEye has “moderate confidence” Fancy Bear was behind such a surveillance campaign in 2016, and others in recent months at hotels in Europe and one Middle Eastern capital. The campaign’s target, however, is unclear.

FireEye said the hackers used phishing emails to spread attachments infected with the alleged NSA exploit Eternal Blue. They eventually worked their way to corporate and guest Wi-Fi networks, where they could intercept guest information and collect credentials.

The Wired article suggested travelers should bring their own hotspots and avoid connecting to hotel networks.