Keeping your computer safe while traveling
By now, everyone understands the importance of properly protecting your computer from falls or rapid moment while you are traveling. After all, flight attendants don’t just say “objects in the overhead bins may shift during the flight” for fun. In today’s blog, I wanted to go over not only the importance of protecting your computer while traveling but also how to make sure you are doing this properly.
People often think only about protecting the computers outside and screen but there are internal things that you need to make sure are taken care of as well. For instance, you need to make sure you are protecting your computer or device from public Wi-Fi. When you are traveling for business (as most people do these days), make sure you have the ability to connect yourself to a VPN. Often times, businesses will require that their employees use their VPN while traveling for just this reason. Using a VPN on public Wi-Fi hotspots will prevent snooping and people poking around where they shouldn’t be. If you’re connected to a malicious Wi-Fi hotspot that attempts to funnel you to fake sites, connecting through the VPN will bypass all the harmful and unwanted junk and allow you to browse normally through your company’s protected site..
I also highly recommend that you lock everything up. No, I don’t mean in a safe or with a giant pad lock, but I do think setting passwords on all of your devices is an essential part of your traveling preparation. Why you may ask? If you keep valuable information on your phone or laptop (as most people generally do) then you’ll want to make sure you are doing everything you can to keep that information away from prying eyes. It may seem like a simple solution, but adding a password can mean the difference between someone finding your account information for your bank or walking away because they don’t have immediate access to this information. Better safe than sorry, right?
Now track, track TRACK! Most smart phones have the ability to track where they have gone if you have lost your device. This can obviously be helpful if you find your phone or device missing or stolen. However, you should be aware that tracking is tougher with computers. Windows laptops, Chromebooks, and Linux PCs don’t come with anything built-in so you probably want to install PC-tracking softwaresuch as Prey Anti-theft, which has a free version and is available for Windows, Linux, and Macs. There are also several different softwares that do this so just shop around and find the one that most closely matches your needs.
Finally, encrypt all of your data with a good encryption program such as DiskCryptor or Microsoft’s Bitlocker. While some may think this is extreme, you don’t want to be the reason that your family’s personal or business information gets out into the world. You’d be surprised what some people would do to get their hands on that information and traveling makes you and easier target. Don’t wait for your information to get stolen. Encrypt things now and you won’t have to worry later.