Keep Your Data Safe While on Vacation

Technology has made traveling pretty awesome - we carry our phones for navigation, to take photos, to share updates, you name it. But how can you keep your data safe while you travel and use unsecure WiFi? Check out these tips from our own traveling experiences and be protected on your next adventure:

1. Use a Virtual Private Network 

A VPN creates a secure channel outside the available network, protecting your personal and sensitive data. There are many VPNs available and some offer free versions.

2.  If you can't use a VPN, avoid logging on to sites such as: 

  • bank accounts
  • email accounts
  • online stores where you have saved your credit card information

3. Avoid using public computers

In case they have hardware keyloggers plugged in, or malicious spyware installed.

4. Make sure your phone is password protected

If you're like most phone users, your mail app has your e-mail password stored. Your email is like your wallet - any password to any site can be reset through your main email address, and you've already saved your email password in the app on your phone.

This makes a devious person's job real easy - and that's why that one little gateway password into your phone can make such a huge difference. 

5. ENABLE "FIND MY iPhone"

How many of your friends have found their phone in some random person's house, or (more likely) under their own couch, thanks to this app? It's easy to set up and worth the effort.

You can enable this in Settings > iCloud > Sign in > turn on Find My iPhone. If you have an android phone, you can use this app for the same function: Android Device Manager app

6. lock things up

Just like locking your phone with a password, keep your valuables locked up or close by. It's better to put your phone away relentlessly than to leave it out on a table for convenience and then forget about it.

If you need to walk around a city with a laptop or other gear, try to fit everything in a backpack rather than having a laptop case in addition to a purse or shopping bags. 

If you're in a hotel, use the safe. Make things easier on yourself and enjoy your adventure without these concerns.