Cybersecurity threats rise during peak travel and work transitions

Cybercriminals are increasingly exploiting seasonal shifts in digital activity, targeting both travelers and employees. During peak travel seasons, fraud rates rise significantly, with the Mastercard Economics Institute reporting spikes of up to 18% during summer and 28% during winter holidays.

Booking.com noted a substantial increase in AI-assisted travel scams, which often use urgent messaging regarding flight cancellations or payment issues to harvest credentials. Additionally, travelers face risks from unsecured public Wi-Fi in airports and hotels, which can facilitate man-in-the-middle attacks.

In the professional sphere, Kaspersky detected approximately 4.7 million attempted attacks between July 2025 and June 2026 that disguised themselves as legitimate workplace tools. Zoom was the most frequently impersonated service, followed by Outlook and OneDrive. These attacks often utilize downloaders and Trojans to install malicious software on devices, capitalizing on the high volume of communications employees process when returning to active work rhythms.