Amid all the travel administration and personal safety considerations, people tend to loosen up about cybersecurity when they are overseas.
As the revenge travel phenomenon continues, and many people are planning their well-deserved vacations, cybercriminals are also enjoying the ride: by taking advantage of unsuspecting travelers’ online habits when overseas.
Simple actions such as using public Wi-Fi in airports, hotels, or tourist spots can cause smart devices to become vulnerable to being hacked and their owners’ cyber identity being compromised.
One cybersecurity firm, Keep Security, offers some basic tips for travelers:
- Limit social media posts that share your location
Posting on social media may be a traveler’s favorite part about visiting an exciting new place. However, posting while travelling, especially disclosing your exact location with geotags while you are still at that location, can be highly dangerous. Once your location is exposed publicly, any bad actor can target you. Although it may seem unlikely, locals who are more familiar with your surroundings will have an easier time locating you than you think. If you are still tempted to post, wait until you have moved to a new destination — or better yet, save all the content for posting when you are safely home. - Avoid public Wi-Fi
Although finding reliable Wi-Fi while travelling can be challenging, it is better to be safe than connected to public Wi-Fi networks. Attackers can utilize what is called a man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack when your device is connected to public Wi-Fi. This method allows threat actors to tap into the unencrypted Wi-Fi data to gain access to your browser or app to retrieve data stored in your smart phone or laptop. As a general rule of thumb, public Wi-Fi networks should always be avoided. - Consider using a VPN
While travelling, using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) allows you to remain protected when logging on from any location, even when you have only a public Wi-Fi connection available (see tip #2 above). Not only does a VPN allow you to avoid bandwidth throttling — it also protects your online identity and secures your connection from anywhere, even if you are on an entirely different continent. - Upload important documents for backups
Traveling to new and unfamiliar destinations and tourist attractions can be chaotic, which increases the chance of important belongings — including passports, visas, medical records, etc., being stolen or misplaced. By uploading copies of these important documents that contain highly sensitive information to a secure cloud storage service, you will have digital copies as a back-up in case any of your documents get lost or stolen - Securely share emergency info with a trusted source
Take your security a step further on vacation and share relevant, important information with family members, friends, and trusted sources to ensure they have access in case of an emergency. The documents, such as insurance information or passport scans, can be shared with them via secure and trusted storage services. This way, in the event of a medical or other type of emergency, your friend, family member or co-worker can assist without sensitive information being exposed over email, text or messaging, even from across the world.
By following these simple and easy steps and adding extra caution and vigilance in everything they do online, travelers will be able to enjoy safe journeys without unpleasant cyber setbacks.
