While technology has allowed the travel sector to advance by leaps and bounds, it has also enabled the growth of cybercrime, with travellers becoming easy targets for online financial crime, a new study has showed.

According to new research from Kaspersky Lab, consumers – including vacationers and business travellers – conduct a lot of financial operations online when abroad, putting themselves at risk.

The research discovered that 45 per cent of travellers believe losing money is one of the top-three threats they may face abroad, and credit card compromise is considered to be a top-three threat by 35 per cent of users. These concerns are well-founded – the research also highlighted that there is a real danger when it comes to losing money when traveling: 22 per cent of respondents have experienced such a loss, and 8 per cent have had a card compromised whilst in a foreign country.

In contrast, fewer respondents named device infection (11 per cent) or online fraud (20 per cent) as one of their top-three worries whilst traveling. That’s despite the fact that 18 per cent has been a victim of cybercrime when abroad.

It’s not surprising that travellers are becoming victims of cybercrime. Eighty-two per cent connect to public wi-fi anywhere when abroad and, using this potentially risky connection which can be intercepted and used by cybercriminals, 61 per cent of consumers bank online and 55 per cenet shop online. Without the appropriate protection in place, this behavior is exposing users – and their money – to unnecessary danger, but only 34 per cent of users apply a secure connection (VPN) when connecting to public wi-fi, while 18 per cent express that they do nothing at all to stay protected.

“In today’s connected world, we are able to travel easily, for work or pleasure, and stay connected whilst we do. This ability brings with it amazing and exciting opportunities, but also exposes us to dangers if we are not careful. It’s all too easy to connect via potentially insecure wi-fi abroad and then continue our normal habits of banking and shopping online, without stopping to think about the consequences of what we are doing. As we approach the Eid Al Adha holidays, we urge travelers to be more cyber savvy, think twice about their online activities abroad and put measures in place to protect their money from harm,” said David Emm, Principal Security Researcher at Kaspersky Lab.  

To prevent the loss of money, users should behave safely when they are abroad. They should never lose sight of their credit cards, only connect to the Internet via a secure VPN connection, and use a robust security feature, such as Kaspersky Lab’s Safe Money to protect themselves. Available in Kaspersky Internet Security and Kaspersky Total Security, Safe Money allows users to enter financial information and carry out transactions with any bank or e-commerce site in a secure manner, the company said in a statement. - TradeArabia News Service