These days most of us are mobile individuals. Constantly being on the go means that we have to be extra diligent about securing our personal portable devices and how we use public Wi-Fi.
- Turn off sharing: You should assume that any network you connect to when traveling cannot be fully trusted. Turn off your network sharing feature. For personal portable devices, we recommend to remove important data from your devices that is not needed and ensure they are secure by having strong passwords and passcodes.
- Use VPN: Whenever possible use VPN in order to connect using a private and secure network.
- Enable your firewall: Make sure you have your firewall turned on.
- Physically secure devices: While traveling from location to location, ensure the physical safety of your personal devices. According to Verizon, users are 100 times more likely to lose their devices than have them stolen.
- Use HTTPS and SSL: Where possible, keep an eye on the address bar and make sure the “s” in “https” is always there when you are exchanging sensitive information
- Turn off Wi-Fi when not in use: This keeps the data safe. Additionally, limit access to trusted and reputable Wi-Fi hotspots that have valid certificates. If your device alerts you of an invalid or untrusted Wi-Fi certificate when attempting to connect, do not connect.
- Do not use public computers: You are never sure of who used the equipment before you, and they could have infected the public computer. Logging into your accounts and accessing information on these machines puts you at risk. Whenever possible, use only devices you can control and trust.
- Back Up Personal Devices: Research back up services that fit your needs for backing up personal information.