Just as it’s important to keep your data protected at home and at the office, it’s even more important while you travel. Here are three cyber security tips to keep in mind.
Invest in a Privacy Screen
Privacy screens are pieces of film that only allows you to view your computer screen, tablet or smart phone from one angle. What this does is prevent what’s known as “shoulder surfing”. Shoulder surfing is when someone stands behind you and is able to watch what you type on your screen and record it. A privacy screen prevents that from occurring because they would struggle trying to view the screen. You can usually find privacy screens in most computer and electronics stores.
Lock Device Physically and Virtually
In cases where you have to leave your laptop somewhere while you go to another, you may want to physically lock it down. It is recommended that you take your device with you. However, if you must leave it, you can lock it down physically with the use of a Kensington lock. Most laptops and some tablets have a Kensington lock located on the back and side of the device.
Simply lock in the lock mechanism and then attach the lanyard to a nearby pole or table leg. While this doesn’t make it impossible for your device to be stolen, it does make it more difficult.
Add a layer of security by password protecting your log in and locking it every time you leave the device for any reason.
Beware of Open WiFi Hotspots
While it is tempting to connect to those “free” WiFi hotspots, it’s important to consider that some of these are what is known as “rogue” WiFi hotspots. In other words, criminals are able to mimic or create their own WiFi hotspots in an attempt to get you to connect to it and process transactions. What this does is creates a sort of man-in-the-middle situation. Technically, what’s happening is you are connected to their computer and your internet traffic is routed through a real hotspot. You don’t suspect a thing. Meanwhile, the cyber criminal is able to watch what you’re doing because all of the traffic passes through his computer. One way you could defeat against this possibility is to use a VPN service or connect to your own VPN. VPNs create a virtual tunnel and can encrypt all data in transit even if the cyber criminal does capture your data in transit, it will be unreadable data.