Brits warned never to do 1 thing on their phone in all airports

Travelling abroad can be stressful - from getting to the airport on time to making sure you haven't forgotten your passport. Now experts are saying an easily overlooked mistake could add to the mountain of travel worries.

It turns out that simply using your phone to connect to the free airport WiFi at an airport could land you in the middle of a major cybersecurity threat. Brits are being warned that public networks could make them a prime target forhackers looking to steal their personal information.

Luckily, one expert has outlined and explained the dangers and also explained the crucial measures to put in place for your protection.

Pete Cannatta, COO of Atlantic.net, a cloud services provider specialising in security, said: "Most people don't realise they're handing over their digital keys the moment they connect to airport WiFi. These networks are built for convenience, not security, and that makes them extremely dangerous.

He added that when you connect to your home WiFi network, your router encrypts the data and requires a password that acts as a security barrier. Whereas public networks, which lack encryption and authentication, are "shared highways where everyone's data travels together."

The experts at Atlantic go on to explain that anyone within range can therefore monitor network traffic. And criminals can even set up "spoofed networks" that mimic legitimate airport WiFi.

Not only does connecting to airport WiFi put you at risk of a stolen password or two, but essentially every piece of your data can become visible. Dangers include everything from data interception to malware injection and session hijacking. Even a quick email check can open the door to data theft, malware, or identity fraud.

Luckily, there are safer ways to get connected.

Pete emphasises that travellers don't have to sacrifice security for convenience and that "a few simple choices can make all the difference."

One option is to simply use a Mobile Hotspot, which allows you to create a personal network using your phone's cellular data. It's encrypted, authenticated, and far safer than shared WiFi.

Another is to enable a VPN. This is when a reputable Virtual Private Network encrypts your traffic so anyone monitoring public WiFi can only see scrambled data.

Finally, a Secure Roaming SIM could help. Frequent travellers can even use multi-country data SIMs that connect directly to mobile networks, avoiding public WiFi altogether.