Business Espionage Alert: Select Your Hotel Carefully

You are a business executive or a member of the government with sensitive data on your laptop computer. You check into a luxury hotel in the United States or in many other countries. Chances are this hotel may be owned by a Chinese company even though it carries a known western brand name. Often such investors get their money directly from the Chinese Government.

You connect your computer to the hotel wifi and you may notice your secure connection can no longer be secure. Ever noticed wanting to send an email using your own domain, and you have to unblock "authentication" to make it work while connected to a hotel network? Did you ever wonder how this could open up your computer data to foreign espionage? You are no longer the only one worrying...

Chinese global investments in tourism, specifically in name brand luxury hotels and resorts is overwhelming. This is the same for Chinese investments in the United States, as it is for Chinese domination in Cuba, South America, India, South East Asia and many African countries...

A review of the Chinese $1.95-billion acquisition of New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in 2014, possibly recognizing that the hotel's role as the official residence of the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and the frequent lodging for U.S. and foreign dignitaries with business in New York made it a prime target of CFIUS (The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States). No action by US authorities were taken...

The next time you travel on business, you have sensitive data on your computer that could lead to industrial espionage attacks, or you are a government official with data you don't want to get into Chinese hands, select your hotel carefully. more