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Three essential safety tips to stay safe on Wi-Fi while waiting for your next holiday or business flight.
If you’re travelling through Europe this year, there’s a high chance you’re going to be held up waiting for a flight and possibly dependent on public Wi-Fi.
According to the International Air Transport Association’s numbers, delays in the region have risen by 114 per cent over the last 10 years. And the trend is similar here in Australia, with flight delays and cancellations now a regular part of travel around the country.
While the waiting can be a pain, the greater worry is that Wi-Fi dependence, especially if travelling abroad. Public Wi-Fi, while convenient, is a perfect vector for a raft of cyber attacks.
By way of example, an Australian man was sentenced to a jail term in November 2025 for creating an “evil twin” network during a domestic flight and using it to steal personal data.
“Forensic analysis of data and the seized devices identified thousands of intimate images and videos, personal credentials belonging to other people, and records of fraudulent Wi-Fi pages,” the Australian Federal Police said at the time.
Konstantin Levinzon, co-founder of Planet VPN, said that such outcomes, where cyber criminals are actually caught, are exceedingly rare.
“Public Wi-Fi, whether in an airport, hotel, or restaurant, is often unencrypted and sometimes doesn’t even require a password. This makes it easy for bad actors to see what sites users visit or even hijack their sessions,” Levinzon said.
“Users should be especially cautious this year, as the latest AI tools allow cyber criminals to accelerate their attacks, including those targeting Wi-Fi networks.”
But it needn’t be your data getting stolen this holiday break. Here are three essential steps to take to stay secure while travelling.
1. Choose a VPN provider that doesn’t store logs
“On public Wi-Fi, your activity can be visible to anyone with the right tools, but once the VPN is on, your data travels inside the tunnel,” Levinzon said.
“People on the same network, whether it’s hackers, hotspot owners, or even your internet service provider, only see scrambled traffic, not your personal information.”
In addition, Levinzon said that free VPNs, if suitably designed, offer much the same protection as paid versions. However, if going with a free VPN, he recommends finding a provider that does not store logs or other sensitive information, such as emails.
2. Lock down your devices
Every traveller should assume that they are sharing public Wi-Fi with everyone in the vicinity.
With that in mind, travellers should disable automatic connections on all devices to prevent them from inadvertently joining a malicious network. File and printer sharing on laptops should also be disabled, and software updates should be installed prior to travelling to reduce vulnerability.
3. Treat public Wi-Fi as ‘read-only mode’
“Use public Wi-Fi for searching the web or replying to an email, but avoid making transactions. The same rules should be applied not only during travel holidays, but also in our daily lives,” Levinzon said.
“With fast-evolving cyber security threats around us, it is important to stay vigilant and also follow other basic cyber-hygiene practices, such as regularly updating software, using strong passwords, and two-factor authentication.”
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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