In 2018, nearly 42 million Americans traveled over Memorial Day weekend to kick off the summer season. During the coming holiday weekend, travelers should remember to be on high alert with their sensitive information. Earlier this year, IBM X-Force reported that the transportation industry has become a lucrative target for cybercriminals as the 2nd most attacked industry.
Why? The travel and transportation industry is a gold mine for hackers looking for data like passport, payment, travel itineraries, flight manifests, and even schematics of how airplanes are built. In fact, this industry is no stranger to cybersecurity incidents with more than 683 million records compromised since January 2018 -- more than the populations of the US, Mexico, and Brazil combined. It’s the perfect storm for criminals: travelers are often caught dropping their guards, opting for convenience over security to do things like quickly charge devices, make purchases, post to social media, and more.
Given this data, it's critical that travelers be vigilant with their highly coveted information. In fact, a recent survey conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of IBM Security found:
- Travelers Make Risky Choices for Convenience: 7 in 10 Americans surveyed have connected to public Wi-Fi, charged a device using a public USB station, or enabled auto-connect on their devices putting their information at risk.
- Travelers Lack Confidence to Protect Their Data: Only 25% of respondents say they are very or extremely confident in their abilities to protect themselves from cybercrime while travelling.