For many people, especially those who have spent a long time in transit, hotel rooms would easily seem like a second home. Aside from the relief of finding a cozy shelter, a hotel room will give you that much-desired privacy.
But a flight attendant on Tiktok doesn’t think that your locked hotel room door is as safe or private as you suppose.
How Important Are Hotel Doors?
Everyone wants to have moments alone. Even the most extroverted personalities need some time off just to be by themselves to think, relax, and play.
Source: Quora
Sadly, stories abound of people getting attacked after their hotel doors were breached. Others lost cash and other valuable items in such incidents. So, one of the first things to worry about before you check into a hotel is the integrity of its doors.
How Safe Are Hotel Doors?
Most visitors have built rock-solid trust in their hotel room doors over the years. For many, the door’s ability to lock and open properly without hassles is all the assurance they need.
Source: Quora
But based on numerous experiences with hotel room door breaches, we know that there’s more about these doors than we think. Recently, someone has stepped up to spill the beans about their vulnerabilities.
A Flight Attendant Has a Different Opinion
Cici, a flight attendant, has shared some shocking revelations about hotel room doors. In a TikTok video, she described several ways your door can be compromised even when properly locked.
Source: Quora
She admitted that after learning about the techniques, her trust in doors has dropped drastically. Cici battles to have that carefree attitude people have behind closed doors.
How Can Your Hotel Door Be Breached?
Cici described a pretty simple technique that only required objects like magazines or newspapers. One can breach a hotel door by inserting these objects into the narrow space between the door and the frame.
Source: SureFitSecurity/X
When the object enters the gap to a sufficient extent, the next move is to apply a small amount of pressure and dang, the lock surrenders and the door shockingly opens.
The String and Wire Technique
The video showed yet another technique. This time, an individual made use of a contraption of string and wire to disable the door lock from outside and gain entry into the room.
Source: Instructables/Pinterest
To be honest, the possibility of an intruder breaching your privacy while you are present or away is pretty scary. But Cici calmed nerves by showing her viewers a way out.
Cici Shows The Way Out
Cici showed us how to thwart potential breaches by using two clothing hangers. Simply block the upper part of the door frame with one of the hangers.
Many hotel door handles, when pulled down, will automatically disable the privacy lock.
Source: Quora
To eliminate this possibility, you should attach the second hanger to this downward-locking mechanism. Doing this ensures that no one can manipulate your door lock from outside.
Your Safety is Way More Important
For almost everyone, relaxation is at the top of their expectations when they check into a hotel room. We just can’t wait to land on the bed to rest our bodies and maybe switch on the TV.
Source: Quora
But Cici’s video has shown us why your security should come first before any other concern. So, it’s wise to wade through that tiredness and make sure your doors are safe enough.
Even Electronic Lock Vulnerabilities Have Become a Big Issue
Gone are the days when electronic locks were regarded as the ultimate in hotel room door safety. A recent incident has further highlighted the susceptibility of these doors to hacks.
Source: Quora
In 2022, a group of researchers were invited to a hacking event in Las Vegas where they were challenged to expose vulnerabilities in hotel room doors. They uncovered significant holes in the Saflok electronic doors of the rooms.
It Affected Thousands of Hotels
The team privately revealed these vulnerabilities to the manufacturer, Dormakaba, allowing them to go back to the drawing board. Hotels were also briefed about the security risks.
Source: Quora
The findings exposed several flaws that, if pieced together, will give hackers the leeway to unlock any room in a building with a pair of forged keycards. The attacker only needs to analyze one keycard to generate the master keycard.
The Flaws Have Been Around for Decades
Reports show that the flaws have been around for about 36 years and at least 3 million Saflok electronic RFID locks were affected by the susceptibility. These doors were installed in over 13,000 homes and hotels.
Source: Quora
Even though there haven’t been widespread reports of these electronic door breaches, the existence of these weaknesses for long periods increases the possibility.
Another Benefit of Social Media
Social media deserves some credit for providing the platform for videos like Cici’s to be posted and disseminated. Despite the various shortcomings of these online media, they have lots of benefits too.
Source: Quora
Thousands of Cici’s viewers should become more vigilant when they enter hotel rooms. It’s important to note that safety remains the leading priority in any building and no step is too insignificant to make sure our rooms aren’t exposed to intruders.
