Warning! Hackers are coming after your travel account
A few days after Kay Pedersen reserved a hotel room in Chiang Mai, Thailand, through Booking.com, she received an alarming email.
It was a warning from Booking.com in broken English that there had been “some malicious activities” in her account.
And then the trouble started. A few days later, her husband, Steven, noticed a new reservation at another hotel. And then another one. The couple reported the fraudulent activity immediately and Booking.com canceled all of their hotels, including the one in Chiang Mai.
“We immediately called Booking.com’s customer service requesting our original reservation be reinstated and these other odd ones, which we had not made, be canceled,” says Steven Pedersen. “They were able to do so, but not at our original rate. The rate would now be more than twice as much.”
The Pedersens are not alone. A new hacking wave has hit travelers hard. A few weeks ago, criminals reportedly stole Booking.com passwords through its internal messaging system. Other popular targets include loyalty program accounts and other online travel agencies.
Why are travel accounts so prone to attacks?
“They hold very sensitive information, such as passports, driver’s licenses, dates of birth and travel dates,” explains Caroline McCaffery, CEO of ClearOPS, an AI-powered security program management platform.
You don’t have to be a victim. There are strategies you can use now to ensure you won’t lose your hard-earned frequent flyer points or see your hotel reservation get canceled. But there are also things you can avoid doing online that will keep your account safe. Ultimately, though, this isn’t your problem to solve, but I will tell you whose it is in a second.
How to avoid hackers
Here’s how to keep your online travel account safe.
Use two-factor authentication. Two-factor authentication (2FA) requires a special code, along with your password, to gain access to your accounts. “Hackers can’t access this if they don’t have access to your device directly,” explains Zulfikar Ramzan, chief scientist at Aura, a digital safety company. He says if you’re using 2FA, it’s better to use an authenticator…