Making Sure Your Data Is Safe When You Travel
Travelling is a very exciting experience, whether it is for business or pleasure. However, in today’s digital world, it also comes with another set of risks. While you are focused on exploring new destinations, booking flights, and attending meetings, your data might be left at risk. From using unsecured Wi-Fi networks to potential theft, travelling increases your exposure to Cyber threats.
To help you out, we’ve put together some essential tip that will help you keep your data safe:
Use A VPN To Protect Your Connection
One of the best ways you can secure your data while you’re travelling is to use a virtual private network. A VPN service encrypts your internet connection, which makes it pretty impossible for hackers to steal your personal information. This is important when you are using public Wi-Fi networks, which happens quite commonly when you are travelling.
You will find that if you connect to a Wi-Fi network and airports, hotels, and cafes, they are unsecured connections. Public Wi-Fi networks are hotspots for cybercriminals as they are easy places to steal sensitive data like credit card numbers, personal emails and passwords. When you connect using a VPN, though, you are sending your data through an encrypted tunnel and keeping it safe from threats.
Don’t Use Public Wifi For Senstive Information
Even when you are using a VPN, you need to stay cautious when you’re using public Wi-Fi. Some networks may be really insecure, and they may still pose a risk even when you are taking safe precautions. You should try to avoid using public Wi-Fi when you are making sensitive transfers, such as online banking or shopping Mobile data is not foolproof; however, it is typically more secure than public Wi-Fi.
Disable Automatic Wifi Connections
Like most people, you probably have your Wi-Fi set to connect to any available Wi-Fi network automatically. One of the best things that you can do is to turn this off when you are travelling, as it poses a security risk. Your device might connect to a rogue network or unsecure network without you even knowing about it, which leaves your data exposed. If you want to prevent this, you need to disable automatic Wi-Fi connections on your device, and then you can choose to connect to networks yourself.
Use Strong Passwords
Passwords are an essential part of keeping your data safe, especially when you are travelling. Travelling often means that you need to log into various accounts from your email; therefore, you need to make sure you are using strong, unique passwords. Never make it easy to guess passwords or your birthday; instead, choose a complex combination of numbers, letters, and special characters. Also, think about using lower and uppercase. If you want to make this extra strong, you should enable two-factor authentication on your accounts.
Back-Up Your Data Before You Leave
Before you head out on your travels, you need to make sure you back up all your important data, especially if you are taking your laptop with you. This means that if your device is stolen, lost, or damaged while you are travelling, you have a backup of all your data before you go, and you won’t lose everything. You should back up your data to a cloud storage service or external hard drive that you can leave at home. Cloud services will often enable you to back up on the go; however, make sure you follow the tip above and use a secure network when you do this.
Be Careful What You Share On Social Media
Although you want to share your travels, you need to be careful about what you share on social media. Travelling is an exciting time. Therefore, it is extremely tempting to share all of your experiences with your family and friends online. If you are putting posts online, you’re putting your information out there and announcing that you were away from your home, which could leave you a target for offline and online. You should wait until you return home to post your trip or adjust your privacy settings so that only the people that you trust the most can see your posts. Make sure you don’t share any details like your exact location, travel dates, or any information we used to access any of your accounts.
These tips should help you to keep your data safe while you are away. Do you do anything else to look after your data while you travel? Let us know in the comments below.