Harley Young
Checking in at the airport is often an exciting time, with holiday hopefuls getting ready to head abroad for some well-needed R&R.
While it can be tempting to want to snap a little picture of your boarding pass to share on the 'gram, experts are urging travellers against doing so as it could put you at risk.
Even though most modern boarding passes only contain details of your name, flight number and seat number, sharing images of these tickets online could result in your personal data being hacked.
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Apparently, boarding passes contain certain information that could enable cyber hackers to obtain your private information, such as bank details and address.
If the barcode on your ticket is visible in your picture, hackers are able to scan this and find out more information than you'd be willing to share. They can use this sensitive data to access your airline account, steal mileage points, change or cancel flights, or even commit identity theft. They can also find out payment details and steal money from your accounts.
Founder and CEO of data breach monitoring company Breachsense, Josh Amishav, explained "Your frequent flyer number, name, and passenger name record are valuable for identity theft, enabling fraud like opening credit card accounts or making unauthorised purchases.
"Hackers can employ social engineering techniques, pretending to be airline representatives to trick you into revealing more personal data. They can also create targeted phishing attempts using your boarding pass info, leading to clicking on malicious links or sharing sensitive data."
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And this isn't the only way boarding passes can be used to access your information.
This can be the case for lost or stolen boarding passes too. Always remember to keep your boarding pass on you, don't leave it behind in your airplane seat pocket or discard of it in a hotel bin without tearing it up first.
If you're done with a boarding pass and no longer need it, it's important to shred the printed document and discard of it properly to avoid it getting into the wrong hands.
Mobile boarding passes aren't always safe either, as third-party tracking can also result in potential breaches.
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The experts recommend that if you really want to snap a picture to document your trip, you should stage the image to ensure it doesn't show any important details. Cover the barcode with your finger or another item and blur any codes or details that could give away your private information.