Getting ready for summer vacation season? These quick tips will help keep your data and devices safe while you travel.
Summer is here, and many of us are booking flights and packing our bags for a well-earned break. While it’s the perfect time to relax and recharge, it’s important not to let your guard down when it comes to cybersecurity. A few simple steps can help keep your information secure while you enjoy your trip.
Disable Auto Connect and Network Discovery
Auto-connect makes it easier to join familiar networks and devices at home, but it can expose you to risks while traveling. If you’ve previously connected to hotel or airport Wi-Fi (which we don’t recommend), your device might reconnect automatically. This is especially true with hotel chains, where your device may recognize the brand, not just the location.
Bluetooth works the same way. You’ve probably seen pop-up connection requests at the gym or on a plane. Leaving auto-connect enabled can make your device an easy target.
Turn off Wi-Fi auto-connect, delete any saved networks and devices you don’t fully trust, and disable Bluetooth auto-discovery to prevent both device discovery and being discoverable.
Watch Out for All the Ishings
Phishing, smishing, vishing, and quishing are always threats, but travel increases your exposure. With AI-powered scams on the rise, attackers may know you’re away and target you with fake travel alerts, airline updates, hotel offers or deals that seem too good to be true. If you’re unsure about a message, contact the company directly using a verified phone number or check through a trusted app to confirm its legitimacy.
While communication-based attacks are easy to spot (unsolicited, urgent, bad grammar and contain suspicious links), quishing can be harder to detect in the wild. Quishing uses QR codes to deliver malicious content and is harder to detect, especially since QR codes are common for menus and payments. Some scammers even place fake QR code stickers over real ones in public places.
Always verify QR codes with staff before scanning. Avoid random codes in public. When in doubt, take a photo and inspect the URL before clicking. If something seems off, it most likely is.
Leave Work at Home
Remote work has its benefits, but vacation is a time to disconnect – literally and figuratively. Taking your work laptop may seem helpful for staying ahead of the email avalanche, but it introduces unnecessary risk to you and your employer.
If you must travel with work devices, consult your IT department to ensure compliance with security policies which may include specific VPN usage or travel-specific or limited-access device. If your company doesn’t yet have formal policies or procedures in place, our team would be happy to assist in developing them.
Freeze Your Credit Cards and/or Credit
Freezing your credit restricts access to your credit report, making it harder for identity thieves to open new accounts in your name. It’s a quick step you can take through any of the three major credit bureaus. Freezing your actual credit cards can also help with many banks letting you temporarily disable cards through their apps or websites. Freezing a card lasts as long as you want it to and simply restricts the card from being used anywhere.
Best Practice: Only take the cards you need and leave the rest in a secure location, such as a home safe or safety deposit box. Notify your card providers if you’re traveling internationally to avoid blocked transactions due to fraud alerts.
Don’t Overlook Physical Safety
Protecting your data isn’t just about online threats. Physical theft can be just as damaging as a cyberattack, especially when you’re away from home.
Use theft-resistant bags, keep your devices in sight or on your person, and never leave them unattended in public spaces. Consider using a privacy screen to guard against shoulder surfing. If you’re using navigation apps, step into a store or enclosed area to avoid signaling that you’re lost or unfamiliar with the area.
Add an extra layer of digital security on your physical devices with Bluetooth trackers like Tile or Apple AirTag and enable “Find My Device” apps and websites, but watch out for malicious imposters. Make sure multi-factor authentication is enabled, your lock screen password is strong, and auto-lock is turned on. These steps make it significantly harder for anyone to access your device if it’s lost or stolen.
Vacation is all about relaxing and making great memories, but that doesn’t mean forgetting about security. With a few smart moves, you can soak up the sun and the sights while keeping your devices and data safe. A little prep now means a lot more peace of mind later.
About Schneider Downs Cybersecurity
The Schneider Downs cybersecurity practice consists of experts offering a comprehensive set of information technology security services, including penetration testing, intrusion prevention/detection review, ransomware security, vulnerability assessments and a robust digital forensics and incident response team. In addition, our Digital Forensics and Incident Response teams are available 24x7x365 at 1-800-993-8937 if you suspect or are experiencing a network incident of any kind.
To learn more, visit our dedicated Cybersecurity page.
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