{"id":95406,"date":"2019-06-12T06:00:52","date_gmt":"2019-06-12T13:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/securingtomorrow.mcafee.com\/?p=95406"},"modified":"2025-08-29T02:12:24","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T09:12:24","slug":"safe-summer-travels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/safe-summer-travels\/","title":{"rendered":"Bargain or Bogus Booking? Learn How to Securely Plan Summer Travel"},"content":{"rendered":"

With summertime just around the corner, families are eagerly looking to book their next getaway. Since vacation is so top-of-mind<\/a> during the summer months, users are bound to come across websites offering cheap deals on flights, accommodations, and other experiences and activities. With so many websites claiming to offer these “can’t-miss deals,” how do you know who to trust?<\/p>\n

It turns out that this is a common concern among folks looking for a little summer getaway. According to our recent survey of 8,000 people across the UK, US, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Spain, and Singapore, 54% of respondents worry about their identity being stolen while booking and purchasing travel and accommodation online. However, 27% don\u2019t check the authenticity of a website before booking their vacation online. Over half of these respondents say that it doesn\u2019t cross their minds to do so.<\/p>\n

These so-called \u201cgreat deals\u201d can be difficult to pass up. Unfortunately, 30% of respondents have been defrauded thanks to holiday travel deals that were just too good to be true. What\u2019s more, 46.3% of these victims didn\u2019t realize they had been ripped off until they arrived at their holiday rental to find that the booking wasn\u2019t actually valid.<\/p>\n

In addition to avoiding bogus bookings, users should also refrain from risky online behavior while enjoying their summer holidays. According to our survey, 44.5% of respondents are putting themselves at risk while traveling by not checking the security of their internet connection or willingly connecting to an unsecured network. 61% also stated that they never use a VPN, while 22% don’t know what a VPN is.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, travel-related attacks aren\u2019t limited to just travelers either; hotels are popular targets for cybercriminals. According to analysis<\/a> conducted by the McAfee Advanced Threat Research team, the most popular attack vectors are POS malware and account hijacking. Due to these attacks, eager vacationers have had their customer payment, credit card data, and personally identifiable information stolen. In order for users to enjoy a worry-free vacation this summer, it\u2019s important that they are aware of the potential cyberthreats involved when booking their trips online and what they can do to prevent them.<\/p>\n

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Tips to Protect Your Security While Traveling<\/h2>\n

We here at McAfee are working to help inform users of the risks they face when booking through unsecured or unreliable websites as well as when they’re enjoying some summertime R&R. Check out the following tips so you can enjoy your vacation without questioning the status of your cybersecurity:<\/p>\n