Strength of Our Passwords - Episode One: Keylogging

In the interest of communicating how critical proper business cybersecurity is to manage, we’ve decided to take a different approach and put forth a scenario in the form of a daytime soap. As such, please feel free to read this post with dramatic music playing in the background and all dialogue imagined with elevated intensity.

In the town of Oak Falls, life seems peaceful… but under the surface, tension persists. Secrets run amok, and with so much information to take in, everyone has to worry about the Strength of Our Passwords.

Rhea Pennington started her workday as she started every other, entering the business center at the Lutz Hotel and turning on the lights. She smiled as the modest collection of computers and extensive assortment of brochures and handouts detailing the things to do in and around Oak Falls were illuminated. 

She filled her mug with hot water and threw in her usual tea bag to steep as she took her place behind her desk, ready to answer any questions the hotel’s guests may have.

Rhea smiled and waved at Bella, the hotel’s concierge, as she passed by the doorway on her way to the front desk. She lifted the book she had at her desk—a recommendation from Bella—and flashed a thumbs up. Bella was right… she was enjoying the historical romance, a genre she never thought she would be into. She opened the book to her marked place and began to read, patiently waiting for a guest to need help.

A few hours passed, with just a few visitors coming in to use the computers or ask about good places to eat or things to do. Rhea assisted each with a smile. She had a good track record of guests returning to thank her for her recommendations, so she was confident that everyone she spoke to would have a good time.

A few hours and a sizable chunk of her book later, the phone on the desk in front of her rang.

Rhea carefully placed her bookmark in the novel. The call had come just as she got to the good part, but Rhea understood that her job, of course, came first.

She picked up the receiver.

“Hello, you’ve reached the Lutz Hotel Business Center. How can I help you?”

An exasperated voice responded.

“Hi, yeah. I stayed at the hotel a few weeks ago, and… I’m sorry, this is going to sound weird, but I think my identity may have been stolen while I stayed there.”

Rhea frowned. “Excuse me, sir? You say your identity was stolen?”

“Yeah. I mean… and I know this wasn’t good or smart, but I logged into my bank on one of your business center computers, and suddenly I’m locked out of all my accounts.”

Suddenly, Rhea felt a pit forming in her stomach.

“Oh no, I’m so sorry. Are you sure it happened here?”

“Unfortunately, yes. I haven’t tried logging into my bank since, and the problem seems to have started that day.”

Rhea paused, at a loss for words. She simply didn’t know how to respond. However, the voice on the other end of the line wasn’t done.

“I hate to ask, but is there a manager or someone I can speak to about this? I want to try to make this right.”

The request snapped Rhea back to reality.

“Of course, sir, I’ll get you transferred right away. Thank you for your patience.”

Rhea jabbed the transfer button and put down the receiver, staring at the phone. She had never experienced this kind of issue before. Her gaze drifted over to the row of computers across the room. Which one did the caller use?

Suddenly, the phone rang again. Rhea jumped, then hesitantly picked up the receiver, expecting it to be her boss with an earful for her. It wasn’t—instead, it was another prior guest.

“Hi. I can’t get into my social media account. I last logged in at the hotel’s media center. What gives?”

Already flustered, Rhea began floundering.

“Um, I,uh, I’m so sorry…I don’t know, um…”

These calls continued to flow throughout the rest of the morning, all telling the same story—a guest had used one of the computers at the hotel, only to discover the exact websites and accounts they had accessed while there were suddenly locking them out. In addition to the bank call and the social media caller, someone had used the hotel’s computers to access their work accounts and their entire company was now dealing with a data breach. Another caller had their identity stolen after ordering something online through the hotel’s computers.

Between these calls, Rhea managed to pull herself together enough to inform her boss of the situation from her perspective. Once that was done, she took it upon herself to try to figure out what was going on. Doing a quick search brought her to Inertia Group, Inc., an IT service provider, and their website, where she was able to learn more about cybersecurity. Based on what she read, she suspected she knew what had happened.

“So,” Rhea said to herself. “Someone could have come in here and installed this program—this “malware”—called a keylogger on the computers so that everything anyone typed would be recorded and sent to them. I guess that explains it… anyone who accessed anything private would have given their username and password with no idea of what they were doing.”

Steeling her nerves, Rhea picked up the phone again to tell her manager what she had discovered.

Before she could dial, however, Bella barged through the doors.

Rhea jumped. “Bella, what’s wrong?”

Wide-eyed, Bella looked like a pack of wolves had chased her. She took a moment to catch her breath and stared at Rhea. As for Rhea, her panic was swiftly rising again.

Bella finally caught her breath.

“I just overheard… there’s apparently a lawsuit coming against the hotel from all these people who had their identities and stuff stolen. The boss was just talking to legal and it sounds like they have a good case against us for not protecting their data. Plus, it’s all over social media… so many people are calling and cancelling their reservations, I just managed to sneak away.”

Rhea felt the blood drain from her face once more. This was serious… and it almost certainly happened on her watch.

TO BE CONTINUED…

***

Next time, on Strength of Our Passwords, we find out if the hotel survives this… and if Rhea Pennington keeps her job. Also, we learn what happened to Sebastian Melendez’s work laptop and why Fletcher Bishop is so upset about it.

Strength of Our Passwords is brought to you by Inertia Group, Inc., one of the best IT support providers for the businesses of South Florida. Stick around to catch our next episode, and reach out at (305) 447-7628 to learn more about how your business could do more with your IT.