Everyone needs a vacation now and then. Travel broadens the mind and helps people relax. Today, it’s easier than ever to make travel plans. At the same time, travelers today need to be aware of the dangers they can face even if they don’t leave. A study has shown that the vast majority of major travel sites are not doing well by their users. In fact, they are failing to protect the user’s all important personal information.
Password Protection
One of the first steps that any traveler will take when planning a vacation via such sites is setting up a password. Alas, a study has found that most major travel sites are not assisting their users in setting up a secure password. A secure password is one that is hard to guess and harder to break. Most travel sites do not even suggest ways to make their passwords safer for their users.
Other Poor Security Practices
Perhaps most startling of all, many travel websites performed especially poorly when compared to their counterparts. Many other sites have useful security measures that protect the interests of those using them. Not so most travel websites. Many other sites that serve the needs of users online such as Facebook performed much higher in providing security measures for their users.
Easy To Hack
Most startling of all, the examination found that it was very easy to hack travel sites. Many such sites can be accessed via the use of a very simple password. Sites were ranked on a scale of one to five with five out of five being the ideal score. Only about ten percent of all sites received a score of better than four out of five. Several site that are well known in the travel industry failed the security test with barely a minimum of protection offered.
Some Industries Did Better Than Others
Some sections of the travel industries fared better than others. The cruise industry failed on all levels of internet security. They had a surprisingly poor rate when it came to protecting sensitive and important user data. Another kind of travel industry that also fared poorly on such rankings were the travel booking websites. They did almost as badly on measures of security as the cruise industry. There were a few bright spots. Car rental sites did better on security measures. However, their overall scores were not particularly good either with an average rating of under three out of five on the overall criteria.
Improving Personal Security Online
Given that such problems are widely found throughout the online travel industry, users are wise to protect themselves. Every user should create their own personal password that is unique and meets all password security standards. Good security includes passwords that are more than the eight letter standard password. They should also ideally have a mix of symbols and numbers as well as at least one case sensitive letter. This way, users can protect their information as they prepare to explore the world.
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