As summer travel ramps up, so does the cybersecurity risk for enterprise organizations. From client meetings and conferences to site visits and offsites to personal travel, employees are on the move—and so are the cybercriminals looking to exploit them.
Phones and tablets have become essential productivity tools for a mobile workforce. But without the right protections in place, these devices can become serious liabilities—especially during travel, when vigilance is low, free public-WiFi are everywhere, and attackers know exactly how to strike.
Zimperium’s 2025 Global Mobile Threat Report revealed that mobile threats aren’t just growing—they’re evolving. Attackers are actively shifting to a mobile-first attack strategy, leveraging social engineering, mobile malware, rogue networks, and app vulnerabilities to access sensitive corporate data.
During travel, these risks multiply. Airports, hotels, rideshare hubs, and cafés all offer rich hunting grounds for attackers leveraging man-in-the-middle attacks or malicious public Wi-Fi. And employees, often multitasking or in a hurry, are far more likely to click, install, or connect without thinking twice.
Zimperium threat intelligence shows a significant spike in mobile malware activity across Southeast Asia, with Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines experiencing some of the highest volumes of malicious activity. These regions have become frequent targets for threat actors leveraging sideloaded apps, malicious links, and insecure network access to compromise mobile devices—especially those used during travel.
Interestingly, Luxembourg has also emerged as a global outlier, experiencing an unexpectedly high rate of mobile malware attacks. The convergence of international business travelers, dense digital infrastructure, and a high mobile usage rate may be contributing factors.
While global hotspots lead in volume, major U.S. cities like Los Angeles, New York, Portland, Miami, and Seattle are seeing increased mobile malware activity—particularly during peak travel months. These urban centers, with their high density of mobile users and transient populations, offer ideal conditions for attackers to exploit public unsecured networks and unprotected devices.
(fig. 1: Regional Malware Heat Map)
For business travelers visiting these regions, the risk is real: compromised devices can quickly become gateways into corporate environments, especially when security controls are not enforced or visibility is lacking.
Key Takeaway: Whether you're heading to Southeast Asia or a European business hub, mobile malware doesn’t discriminate by location—but it thrives on opportunity. And summer travel creates plenty of it.
Follow a Mobile Security Checklist:
To keep your corporate network secure during peak travel season, make sure you have visibility into all mobile endpoints, enforce device compliance, and block connections to public unsecured Wi-Fi.
Don’t Let Mobile Travel Be Your Blind Spot
Mobile threats don’t take vacations—in fact, they accelerate when your workforce hits the road. A single compromised device can open the door to a full-scale breach. This summer, give your security team peace of mind: secure every mobile endpoint, empower employees with knowledge, and deploy proactive protection like Zimperium Mobile Threat Defense.