Experts warn of 5 e -security threats facing travelers

Experts in cybersecurity and security technology warned against exposure to individuals during travel, whether for work purposes or tourism, for five main types of electronic threats that may expose their privacy and electronic security to danger.

They assured «Emirates Today» that these threats have become more common and widespread around the world, which made passengers an easy goal for piracy and data stealing.

They explained that the most prominent risks are the use of insecure “Wi -Fi” networks, which may be used to penetrate the user data, in addition to the frauds’ resort to digital hunting methods through fake “QR” symbols in public places, in addition to relying on joint computers, pressing malicious links, and exploiting social engineering techniques for fraud.

Imad Al -Hafar, the head of digital security, said that the global markets are witnessing a noticeable increase in attempts to penetrate the data of individuals, especially travelers, with the aim of obtaining their financial and banking information.

He pointed out that one of the most prominent of these threats is the use of public and unsafe internet networks, which facilitate the pirates to penetrate devices and access user data easily, stressing the importance of awareness of the danger of these networks, as they are one of the most common means that hackers exploit.

He added that among the other risks that travelers may be exposed to is fraud through what is known as “social engineering”, a method that is based on exploiting individuals’ participation of their personal information on social media, including travel places and dates, which gives fraudsters an opportunity to build deception scenarios to lure the victim and exploit it electronically.

Al -Hafar stressed the importance of caution and following a set of preventive guidelines, among them the use of reliable applications for virtual private networks «VPN» when connecting to the “Wi -Fi” networks in general, in addition to downloading protection applications for electronic security, and making sure to use reliable computers only when traveling.

He also called for the necessity of logging out of all accounts after using it, stopping the “reminding the password” feature, and avoiding publishing the details of the trip on social media publicly to avoid users’ exposure to targeting through social engineering techniques.

For his part, IT expert, Mohamed Al -Fiqi, said that there are a number of wrong practices that many resort to unconsciously, which makes them vulnerable to multiple risks, especially during travel, whether for entertainment purposes or job missions, as these practices expose many individuals to the risk of data penetration and electronic security threats.

He indicated that one of the most prominent of these risks is the fraud operations that are carried out through fake “QR” symbols spread in public places, which concerned users to provide services or information, while they are in fact used to penetrate their devices.

He added that among the widespread threats, pressure on suspicious links that are sent by unknown persons or were identified during the trips, indicating that once you press these links, the hackers can access the device and withdraw data.

He stressed the need to avoid connecting to Wi -Fi networks or common public computers, using reliable electronic protection programs, and not pressing any unknown links, whether by phone or email.

In turn, technical expert Jesse Kim reported that the spread of electronic security threats has become a global phenomenon, which is especially exposed to travelers to advanced piracy, especially in light of the development of penetration.

She pointed out that some of the normal technologies may be used to penetrate the devices by downloading malicious programs as soon as the phone is connected to them.

Kim stressed the importance of taking a number of preventive measures, such as updating electronic protection programs before traveling, avoiding the use of public charging outlets, and adopting instead on wallpapers or personal charging devices, and stressed the non -use of banking applications or to conduct any financial transactions via public networks unless there are activated protection programs such as “VPN” applications.

---

5 threats

1- Using free and non-secure Wi-Fi networks.

2- Wiping «QR» unreliable in public places.

3- Enter personal data on common or public computers.

4- Click on suspicious links that arrive over the phone or email.

5- Falling in the trap of social engineering as a result of information sharing.