Ben Thiele, assistant general manager at the Hotel Monaco Seattle, adjusting a basement security camera. At a poker tournament in Barcelona last September, Jens Kyllönen, a professional player, said that his room at Hotel Arts was broken into and malware was installed on his computer to transmit anything he saw on his screen as he played. Despite video camera systems and electronic key card entry logs, no one was caught. Although he said he discovered the malware in time, he says he is much more careful now about where he stores his belongings and secures his computer.

Hotel Arts declined to comment, saying it was a private event. His case is just one in what has become a technological cat-and-mouse game between hotels and criminals. Smaller and cheaper cameras, smarter key card systems and communication among hotels add up to a more closely watched environment than in the past.

Criminals are also using new technology to foil security measures and execute scams. Cameras are typically installed in public spaces like lobbies and hallways, said H. Skip Brandt, executive director of the International Lodging Safety and Security Association in Boston, and director of security at a hotel in downtown Boston.

The numbers of those monitored public spaces are multiplying as video cameras and systems come down in price and increase in power. Advanced closed-circuit video systems provide “low-light vision, facial recognition, and movement and color recognition analysis software,” said Tom McElroy[…]