With warm weather in full force, now is the time that many of us are escaping our homes and offices for summer vacations.
No matter how long you’ll be away, chances are you will find it hard to completely disconnect. While “unplugging” is a great tactic for total relaxation, many vacationers can’t help but bring their laptops and other devices along for the ride.
But how safe are the networks that we are connecting to along the way? At home, we know to password-protect our Internet connections and implement other security measures for our home network. However, as travelers, we usually don’t always maintain the same level of vigilance over our network security. Instead, we find it convenient to take advantage of any free public network(s) in whatever airport, hotel, or coffee shop we pass through.
But we all know that even “free” things in life have a cost that we have to pay.
The problem is that public Wi-Fi networks pose many potential security risks to your personal information. When you are using an unsecured network (i.e. no login, no password, and no encryption) anyone can join the network and steal your sensitive, personal information. Even if the network is secured with a password, that is a step that can often easily bypassed by cyber criminals.
While you’re enjoying the summer months on the road, it’s also important to take steps to ensure the safety of your personal information. Before you take those (hopefully short!) breaks to use the Internet, take some time to implement one or more of the following tips:
- Use your mobile device
- Use a VPN
- Use secure browsing
- Change your passwords
Why log into a public network if you don’t have to? If you have a smartphone with a data plan, there are ways to connect to the Internet on your laptop using your phone’s connection. Lifehacker has a great guide for doing so with an iPhone. One of the steps requires you to “jailbreak” your phone, but don’t be alarmed. Jailbreaking was declared legal in the U.S. in July 2010.
Another good route for safer surfing away from home is using a virtual private network, or VPN. These networks allow for authentication (password) and encryption through a remote server. Setting one up on your own can be a pain, but luckily there are free services that take care of it for you.
CyberGhost VPN is a free download that allows you to remain anonymous by concealing your real IP address and location. Furthermore, all of your web activity is then encrypted to protect you from eavesdroppers.
Other similar services include HotSpot Shield and Wall Cooler VPN.
While this is a good idea to use at home as well, it’s particularly important when you are away from home that you use the HTTPS version of a URL whenever possible.
HTTPS is a protocol that adds additional encryption to safeguard whatever personal information you are entering to access the site. For example, if you use it on Facebook, the address bar will show you https://www.facebook.com instead of http://www.facebook.com .
Many sites do not default to HTTPS even when they offer it. Luckily, Google Chrome offers an extension that forces any site to use HTTPS if they have it available. For Firefox, HTTPS Everywhere is a good option.
If you must spend your vacation using public networks, change your passwords to the accounts you are accessing at least once. Use a password that you don’t use at home. Make sure to mix numbers and upper case and lower case letters in your password to make it more difficult for a hacker to steal.
Our hope is that our users will remember to safeguard their personal data, especially when away on a vacation. By taking a few preventive steps, you will decrease your chances of becoming a victim of cyber-crime and thus allow yourself to enjoy your well-deserved time off, worry-free.
If you want to share with us other tried and true methods that you use to protect your data online, please do so by posting in the comments section of this post.
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