The FBI has issued a warning to air travelers to be wary of fake websites impersonating American airlines when making reservations.
Cybersecurity Special Agent in Charge Conal Whetten spoke to members of the press on Wednesday to raise awareness about the creation of many websites that impersonate official ones and deceive users.
Whetten said these fake domains, which are becoming increasingly sophisticated as cybercriminals hone their skills, pose a real threat to travelers, airports and the airline industry as a whole.
By creating a malicious domain that appears to feature an organization's logo, font, color scheme, and writing style, cybercriminals are often able to trick users into believing they are on the official website.
"They do this to steal personal and business data," Whetten explained, "and U.S. airports are an attractive target for cyber actors because there is a rich environment of business and personal information."
Malicious websites that look like the official ones are created with domain names that are almost identical to the official website they impersonate, often with just one character changed. This subtle difference is not easy for users to spot.
According to the FBI, criminals create these fake domains to spread malware that is capable of compromising a user's personal or business data . The theft of this data can ultimately lead to identity theft and financial losses.
"They can use social media lists to scam your friends and family, even place orders for illegal things from online businesses, ultimately leaving you with the bill," Whetten said.
The threat doesn't stop once the tickets are booked, with criminals looking for an IoT device at the airport to pass the time until they fly.
" Cyber actors can exploit this area by creating fake domains and Wi-Fi networks , which can trick both passengers and airport operators into interacting with malicious websites or emails ," Whetten said.
The FBI representative advised users to disable or remove all unnecessary protocols and software gateways and use multi-factor authentication where possible.
Describing how prevalent this particular type of cybercrime is, Whetten said: “Over 96% of companies suffer from domain spoofing attacks in one form or another.”
