The summer travel season is just around the corner and an estimated 60% of Americans planning at least one trip between now and September, guess who’s coming along for the ride? Yep, hackers.
With nearly 200,000,000 tourists to feast on, cybercriminals are already setting up ways to snare travelers’ sensitive information.
Hank Schless, a cybersecurity expert with Lookout, told ConsumerAffairs that hackers will be trying to take advantage of travelers who have their guard down and are worrying about other things in unfamiliar environments, like airports and cafes.
Although many airports are offering free Wi-Fi connectivity, Schless says travelers should think twice before connecting to the first network they can find. He said attackers have been known to set up fake networks — with obvious but convincing names like “Starbucks_Guest_WiFi.”
“Once you connect, they’ll gain access to sensitive information, including your login credentials, emails, and messages,” he cautioned. “In order to protect yourself from wifi threats, alter your device’s settings so that it does not automatically connect to nearby networks,” a suggestion he made, adding that his company’s app performs that scan automatically.
Don’t accept USB cords from strangers
Another trick of the trade that hackers have developed is exploiting USB chargers by loading malware onto them. This allows them to infect a person’s device the moment they plug…
