With the cost of fraud to the travel industry estimated to be $21 billion* and 70%** of all fraud reported to now be cyber enabled, it is vital to safeguard your business and customers from cyber crime. With the travel industry an obvious target for fraudsters and cybercrime, there are a number of steps you can take to protect your business. Whether its staff and consumer education, technological solutions or greater awareness of the risks, attend ABTA’s Cyber Security and Fraud in Travel seminar, to hear practical advice on how to protect your business.

A common tool used by criminals is malware. An infected computer or network can have serious consequences ranging from fraudsters intercepting your transactions to locking access to your files until a ransom is paid. Andrew Little (Get Safe Online) advises that to protect against this cyber threat, you should always keep operating systems, software, antivirus and apps updated, preferably by enabling automatic updates. It’s also essential to educate staff to ensure they do not click on spurious links or attachments in unsolicited emails – however authentic they appear - and that they are using and protecting strong passwords where necessary.

Ensuring all portable devices, files and any portable media are encrypted is another effective way to protect against cyber crime. Barry Gooch (Prevention of Fraud in Travel) states that strong encryption will significantly reduce the risks of data exploitation should your devices, media or files be lost or stolen. The timely reporting of the loss of devices and data is also vital to allow your employer the best chance of mitigating the issue and taking the correct legal steps.

Action Fraud (the UK’s national fraud and cyber crime reporting centre) continues to see businesses targeted by invoice and mandate fraud. DS Gary Brown from the City of London Police suggests that staff training and education are vital for combatting this risk, ensuring processes are in place where changes in payment details and suspicious payment requests are queried and verified.

Attend ABTA’s Cyber Security and Fraud in Travel seminar, taking place in London on 20 June, to hear further actionable insight from expert speakers including representatives from the City of London Police, Get Safe Online, Prevention of Fraud in Travel (PROFiT), ABTA, and more.

To find out more, see the full speaker line-up and register, visit abta.com/events.

*eNett, It Pays to Know, Research by Edgar, Dunn & Company
**Action Fraud