Cybersecurity tips for traveling

It’s pretty easy to expose yourself to cyber threats when traveling. If you want to avoid having your data or money stolen, here are 8 cybersecurity tips for traveling.

It’s summer, which, for many people, means holiday. However, just because you are trying to relax, does not mean you should lower your guard when it comes to your cybersecurity. When traveling, you are likely unknowingly exposing yourself and your devices to danger. If you are not careful, by the end of your holiday you could be dealing with stolen money, hacked accounts and lost data.

• Be careful when connecting to public Wi-Fi. When waiting for your flight or staying in your hotel, it’s hard to resits the temptation of connecting to the available free Wi-Fi. However, you should be aware that by using free, publicly available Wi-Fi, you could essentially be allowing malicious parties to spy on you. If you absolutely need to use the Wi-Fi, do not connect to your bank, your social media accounts, or purchase anything online. You should also disable Wi-Fi auto-connect.
• Use a VPN. It’s always a good idea to use a VPN, and especially when traveling. A VPN, or Virtual Private Network, is a service that allows you to use public Wi-Fi securely. Because the connection would be encrypted, you would not need to worry about someone spying on you or trying to steal your data.
• Do not use publicly accessible computers for personal business. Hotels, libraries, etc., may provide access to public computers. However, because anyone can use them, they are not safe. You should not log in to your social media accounts, email or anything else, particularly not online bank. The computer could have a keylogger installed, which would record all your keystrokes and send everything to cyber crooks.
• Make copies of your data before traveling. Before leaving, make sure to back up all your important data. Your device and data can be stolen more easily when you’re traveling, and while backup won’t prevent theft, it will save you a lot of hassle when trying to recover your files.
• Remove sensitive data. Before leaving, remove any sensitive data from the devices you will be bringing with you. If your device gets stolen or hacked, your sensitive data will be safe.
• Lock your devices and do not leave them unattended. Make sure that all your devices are password protected or locked with Touch or Face ID. You should also disable access to your device data when you’re charging your devices via computers.
• Turn off Bluetooth. This is pretty straightforward, if you are not using Bluetooth, turn it off to avoid someone connecting to your device.
• Change passwords after you return home. As a precaution, it’s recommended to change your passwords after you have returned from your travels. This could prevent someone from accessing your accounts.

 

While none of these tips will prevent your device from being stolen, they will at least help prevent potentially devastating data theft.