Cyber Incident Victim: Feuerberg Mountain Resort
Date:
Mar 2023
Location:
Austria
Summary
An Austrian four-star mountain resort experienced a cybersecurity incident where its official Instagram account was compromised, resulting in unauthorized changes to the account name and profile picture. Attackers distributed spam and phishing messages to approximately 42,900 followers, prompting the organization to warn users against interacting with suspicious links. The compromised account was rendered inaccessible to resort staff and subsequently taken offline, while the establishment remained reachable through alternative channels like Facebook. Efforts to restore control of the hijacked social media presence were ongoing at the time of reporting.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 2 motives | 1 technique |
| Threat Actors | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 0 actors | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
The Mountain Resort Feuerberg, located on the Gerlitzen Alpe in Carinthia, experienced a cyberattack targeting its official Instagram account on the evening of March 20, 2023. At approximately 17:00 local time, unauthorized actors gained control of the hotel's Instagram profile, altering its name and profile picture to impersonate the legitimate account. The hackers subsequently exploited the compromised account to send direct messages to the resort's 42,900 followers. Hotel employees discovered the intrusion when they lost administrative access to their Instagram account, preventing them from managing content or revoking the unauthorized changes. Initial reports from external Instagram users indicated the disseminated messages contained spam and phishing attempts. The resort's management confirmed the breach to media outlet 5 Minuten, stating they were making maximum efforts to regain control of the account but could not estimate recovery timelines. By the time of the press inquiry, the resort had voluntarily taken the Instagram account offline to limit further malicious activity while maintaining operational communications through their Facebook page. The incident caused significant disruption to the hotel's digital marketing operations during evening hours when social media engagement typically peaks. No evidence suggested guest booking systems or physical security infrastructure were affected, with impacts confined to the compromised Instagram channel. Staff prioritized public communications to mitigate reputational damage while coordinating recovery efforts with Instagram's support teams.
The resort's management issued immediate warnings through alternative social media channels, publishing a Facebook post at 19:44 the same evening to alert customers about the ongoing compromise. This advisory explicitly stated that all messages originating from their Instagram account were fraudulent and instructed followers not to interact with suspicious links or content. The Facebook notice emphasized that responding to these messages could result in additional account compromises, drawing parallels to the resort's own experience. Public reporting confirmed the phishing attempts leveraged the hotel's established brand trust to increase credibility among targeted followers. The Instagram account remained inaccessible to resort staff and offline to users for an unspecified duration following the attack, disrupting customer engagement and promotional activities. While the hotel's core reservation systems remained unaffected, the incident generated reputational concerns due to the potential exposure of thousands of followers to social engineering attempts. No confirmed reports emerged regarding financial losses or data breaches resulting from follower interactions with the fraudulent messages. The resort maintained transparent communication throughout the response phase, focusing on customer protection through explicit warnings against phishing interactions without speculating about attacker motives or identities. Recovery efforts concentrated on platform-level account restoration procedures rather than technical system remediation due to the exclusively third-party nature of the compromised asset.