Trojan hits hotel payment apps

Criminal underground peddles sub-$300 spyware installer.

Security researchers have discovered a trojan being sold on black market websites as a way to steal customer credit card information from hotels.

According to security firm Trusteer, the remote access trojan was being peddled in underground forums for $US280 ($A270).

The malware targets hotels' front-desk computers. Once installed, it downloads spyware that captures screenshots from point-of-sale (PoS) applications to sniff out credit card numbers and expiration dates.

Trojan sellers have also included guidance on how to use social engineering to trick front-desk clerks into installing the trojan.

Oren Kedem, director of product marketing at Trusteer, said the hospitality industry was a lucrative target because it dealt in valuable financial data.

Fraudsters may also find hotels soft targets because employees regularly received emails from unknown people, and could be tricked into opening malware-laden messages, he said.

"Hotels communicate with the public," he said. "If you're a hotel you open emails and communicate with people you don't know on a regular basis."

Kedem added that hotel employees often used unmanaged mobile devices that may not contain patches and anti-virus protections to stop new trojans.

Verizon Business' Data Breach Investigation Report has highlighted the hospitality and retail sector as a prime target of data thieves in recent years.

The report this year included data from the Australian Federal Police and highlighted an increase in automated attacks against PoS systems of small hospitality and retail businesses.