Cybercrooks love targeting travelers since they’re either anxiously booking tickets or enjoying carefree trips. Either way, letting your guard down when in travel mode means you’re much more likely to fall for their tricks.
This article covers the dirty tricks you should pay special attention to. More importantly, you’ll also get practical tips on how to avoid the dangers and enjoy your travels without digital stress.
The Most Common Travel-Related Cybersecurity Risks
Each of the following risks targets travelers in a different way, often taking advantage of convenience or distraction.
Pre-trip phishing scams
Trouble can start brewing even before you board the plane. Specifically, it’s a common tactic for phishing scammers to send emails that look like they’re from booking sites, hotels, etc. They’ll claim that something urgent needs resolving, like an unexpected gate charge or upfront payment to secure a room reservation.
The message will usually contain a link that’s supposed to help resolve the issue. In reality, you’re taken to a fake version of the impersonated sender’s website. There, you’re asked to put in your login credentials or payment details, which the attackers promptly steal.
Unsafe public Wi-Fi
Almost universal internet accessibility is a modern travel luxury we take for granted. Your Airbnb almost certainly has Wi-Fi, and if it doesn’t, the café across the street will. Convenient, but also genuinely dangerous.
Why? Wi-Fi is a much less safe way of going online than using mobile networks. It’s easy to monitor and even easier to clone. If you connect to such a network, the hackers running the show may potentially see what sites you visit, direct you to harmful ones, or install malware onto your device.
For example, let’s say you’re visiting overseas. Getting an eSIM for Asia, Africa, or any other continent, for that matter, is always a better alternative than dangerous public Wi-Fi. But we’ll get to this later.
Card Skimming
It’s natural for cash-strapped tourists to withdraw money from ATMs and pay by card, which comes with its own dangers. For example, card skimmers have been around for a while and are getting more sophisticated. Since skimmers can be detected if you know what to look for, it’s not uncommon for attackers to also set up hidden cameras that capture PINs as you enter them.
Successfully extracting this info lets the fraudsters clone your card and use it for all kinds of transactions in no time. Meanwhile, disputing the charges takes ages.
Device theft
The bluntest methods can also be among the most effective. Catching you off guard and stealing your phone when it’s unlocked gives the thief access to a treasure trove of information. They can take over any accounts you’re logged into, find out everything about you from your social media posts, direct your contacts to malicious content, or make purchases through your banking apps.
Even if the phone is locked, they can still see notification pop-ups and any valuable info within.
How to Protect Yourself?
While the threats are real, there’s no use ruining the mood by obsessing over them. Being aware of the danger and having the right tools will help you stay safe. These are the strategies you should use.
Safe browsing habits
Thinking before engaging with online content costs no money and takes little effort, but can make all the difference. For example, never click on links in “urgent” messages directly; manually go to the sender’s website or use the official app instead.
Speaking of apps, you’ll want to make a selection and install any travel-related apps before leaving. Make sure to download any local transportation or ride-sharing apps from official sources, not a QR code you saw on a light pole.
Secure internet access
Wi-Fi is too convenient to pass up entirely, so be smart when using it. Never enter credentials or share sensitive information if you connect this way. It’s fine if you want to use Wi-Fi for low-risk tasks like casual browsing, checking for directions, or searching for a restaurant’s online menu.
Anything more sensitive requires a safer alternative, like eSIMs. They’re the most convenient since you neither have to swap out your SIM card nor take out a second mortgage to foot the roaming bill. You just select a plan for your destination, say Tokyo, and an eSIM plan for Japan does the rest. If anything, this is even more convenient than Wi-Fi since you’re not tied to any one location and can remain reachable while exploring.
Device and account protection
Finally, there’s a lot you can do to secure your phone and accounts to make them much harder to abuse.
Start by ensuring that the phone’s screen locks automatically and requires biometrics to open and turn off notification pop-ups, at least temporarily. Newer phones should encrypt data automatically, and you can back it up to the cloud so you don’t lose anything in case of theft.
Protect your accounts by making sure they all have strong passwords and require two-factor authentication to sign in. Handle the 2FA through a trusted authenticator app rather than SMS, so access to it doesn’t depend solely on your phone. While traveling, always log out of your accounts once you’re done, especially if you used external devices.
