Why you should never take photos of your boarding pass
WHILE posting about your holiday on social media can be too good to resist, you need to be careful about the details that you're sharing.
Experts have warned holidaymakers that sharing images of your boarding pass online could leave you open to having your personal data hacked.
While boarding passes may not include some personal details such as an address or a mobile phone number, they still contain lots of codes that could be used to find out information about you.
This includes frequent flyer numbers, your flight number, and your passenger name record.
Some airlines have online systems that can be logged into with just this basic data.
The barcode on the document could even bring up details such as passport numbers.
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Amir Sachs, boss of cybersecurity and IT company Blue Light IT told : "Using the passenger name record and your last name, a hacker can have full access to your booking information, which will give them access to your phone number, email address, and emergency contact information."
Founder and CEO of data breach monitoring company Breachsense, Josh Amishav, also agreed.
He added: "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.
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"They can also create targeted phishing attempts using your boarding pass info, leading to clicking on malicious links or sharing sensitive data."
A printed boarding pass, that's been lost or stolen, could also pose similar threats.
If you've left your boarding pass behind in a seat pocket, scammers will still be able to get your personal data.
You should never throw out your boarding pass either, in case someone gets hold of it from the bin.
Shredding the boarding pass is the best option to keep your data safe.
Even mobile boarding passes can cause problems, due to third-party tracking resulting in potential breaches.
If you have your heart set on posting the first snap of your boarding pass and passport, then the experts recommend "artfully staging" your photos so you don't give away any important details.
You can even blur or change the details using photo editing software to keep yourself safe from unwanted data breaches.
Meanwhile, there are lots of boarding pass codes you need to know about too.
If you see SSSS on it, you could end up being late for your flight.
The code stands for "Secondary Security Screening Selection" which means that the passenger has been selected for additional screening by security.
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Anyone with this code is advised to turn up an extra half hour early for the airport, because getting through security will take considerably longer than usual.
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