Kaspersky reports that cybercriminals are increasingly targeting travelers who rely on digital platforms throughout their journeys, and the company also published its new Safe Travel Insights handbook featuring contributions from its employees across more than 20 countries, who share information about destinations in their home countries alongside details on digital risks associated with travelling to those locations.
Kaspersky: Travel Platforms Are Easy Phishing Targets
Booking travel typically involves the use of multiple platforms, including ride-sharing apps, airlines and online travel agencies, often under time pressure – this combination of urgency and reliance on familiar brands happens to be perfect conditions that cybercriminals exploit through phishing pages, fraudulent apps and fake offers.
Kaspersky researchers analyzed threats distributed under the guise of major travel-related brands, including Emirates, Uber, BlaBlaCar, Expedia, Bolt, Qatar Airways, Air France, Lufthansa, Kayak, Singapore Airlines, Turkish Airlines, British Airways, Wizz Air, Trip.com, Skyscanner and Ryanair. Between the 2Q 2025 and 1Q 2026, the company recorded 262,663 detections linked to these brands. Attacks impersonating Emirates accounted for 61% of detections in this category, followed by Uber at 37%.
Trojans were the most common threat type identified among files and objects associated with transport brands, accounting for 30.5% of detections, followed by Trojan-Bankers at 22.5%. Kaspersky also examined threats involving booking platforms and travel services, where 5,414 attack attempts linked to these brands were recorded in the same period, with Trojans accounting for 54.6% of detections in this category.
Kaspersky recommends that travellers book directly through official websites or apps rather than clicking links in messages, verify website URLs before entering payment details, and remain cautious of offers requiring urgent action or unusual payment methods. The company also advises using strong, unique passwords with multi-factor authentication, downloading apps only from official app stores, and monitoring bank statements for unrecognized charges.
More importantly, scan QR codes only from verified sources and verifying website addresses before proceeding with payments – note that some phones automatically shows you to the links in the camera UI so you can double check first. (The company points out its Kaspersky Premium solution includes a Secure QR Scanner feature that checks links encoded in QR codes as well.) Also, use VPN where possible to ensure data remains protected from potentially compromised public Wi-Fi networks.
Pokdepinion: Travel can be expensive, but losing data to cybercriminals is even more so. Stay safe online while you’re on your trip!
