The report highlights that so it can be easy to leave cybersecurity worries at home, too. Unfortunately, bad actors don’t take a break. In fact, they’re counting on your lax habits. Travel is usually fun, especially during the summer when everyone’s on vacation.
The report highlights that these four in particular tackle issues that keep popping up in the news—and they’re pretty easy to deal with. But with a few small adjustments, you can get right back to enjoying your time off worry-free.
The report highlights that for starters, airlines encode more information into the barcode than shown on the pass—details like your birth date, passport number, and frequent flyer number. Your boarding pass can reveal a lot about you.
Industry observers note that well, turns out anyone with a copy of your QR code can pull sensitive info stored in your account like stored credit card number, physical address, TSA PreCheck number, and passport number by making a request to an API powering the publisher’s website. And if you’re flying Frontier Airlines?
According to the latest update, armed with your full name and confirmation code, they can change your flight details or outright cancel your reservation. Even outside of identity theft issues, someone with eyes on your boarding pass can troll you hard.
In a fresh development, and definitely don’t post an image of your boarding pass on social media. The takeaway: Shield your screen or printed ticket from everyone but the gate agent.
According to the latest update, these computers can be compromised with malware that capture everything typed, including passwords. Or help a hacker gain separate access to any accounts you’ve logged into. Using a shared PC at a hotel (or any public place) carries risk.
As part of the ongoing story, some printers retain a copy of print jobs—and whatever personal info are in them. You can leave a digital trail through printed documents, too.
The report highlights that if you absolutely must use a public PC, use an incognito browser window and login with a passkey instead of a password. The takeaway: Skip public PCs and printers as much as possible.
The report highlights that first, other people on a legit network with you could try to spy on your activity. Second, you accidentally connect to a fake free Wi-Fi network. Public Wi-Fi can be dangerous for two reasons.
According to the latest update, most website connections are now encrypted by default. But a handful still rely on unencrypted connections for some activity, so the risk isn’t zero. In the first scenario, the risk of you losing sensitive data to a hacker is lower these days.
In a fresh development, as for bogus fake Wi-Fi networks, you can end up sharing login details through phony sign-in pages, or even have malware pushed to your device.
In a fresh development, when that’s not possible, use a VPN when connecting to public Wi-Fi. A good VPN acts as a shielded tunnel, encrypting all your activity and hiding the sites you’re visiting from any network observers. The takeaway: Use your cell data for sensitive business, like banking or medical needs.
As part of the ongoing story, ever heard of “juice jacking?” It’s a scary-sounding but less common tactic used to access saved data on a phone—or to put malware on one.
In a fresh development, when you plug in your phone, you potentially become vulnerable to attack. And making matters more complicated: Security experts keep giving conflicting opinions on how big a threat juice jacking really is. Juice jacking works like this: a hacker modifies a USB charging port found at airports, hotels, and other public places.
In a fresh development, doing so has double benefit: You don’t need to worry about juice jacking or electrical harm from a bad charger. (I’ve shorted a connector on a phone using a low-grade charger. That sucked.). The takeaway: Just use your own USB charger.
As part of the ongoing story, power off your phone before using a public charger, as a safety precaution. Not an option?
According to the latest update, since joining the team in 2016, she’s written about CPUs, Windows, PC building, Chrome, Raspberry Pi, and much more—while also serving as PCWorld’s resident bargain hunter (#slickdeals). Currently her focus is on security, helping people understand how best to protect themselves online. Her work has previously appeared in PC Gamer, IGN, Maximum PC, and Official Xbox Magazine. A 15-year veteran of technology and video platform releases journalism, Alaina Yee covers a variety of topics for PCWorld.