If you are planning on traveling this holiday season it is important that you take the necessary precautions to keep your electronic devices safe from potential scammers. With an increase in the number of scams every year, holiday season is a prime time for criminals to go after your banking and personal information. Here are some simple tips that will help you stay safely connected while on the move. 

Don’t Auto Connect.

As you may have experienced while traveling or away from your secure wi-fi connection at home, your mobile devices will try to connect automatically to available wireless networks that have wi-fi. By having this feature enabled on your mobile device this is one way cyber criminals can access your devices remotely. To help keep your information safe disable this feature and opt to actively choose which safe networks to connect to.

Connected & Protected.

If you do decide to connect to a public wireless network whether at an airport, hotel, or café confirm the appropriate login procedures with staff to verify that it is a legitimate network. If you instead choose to connect to an unsecured public network, avoid sensitive activities such as banking that require passwords or credit card information. Only use websites that begin with “https://” when doing any online shopping or banking.

Don’t swim with the “Phishes”.

Phishing is one of the most commonly used tactics by cyber criminals to try and fool victims into providing personal information. If you receive an email and are unsure if the details are legitimate, don’t respond or click any links/attachments. Label or move that email into the junk folder to prevent further messages from that sender to come through.

Socially Antisocial.

As great as social media can be, sometimes we give out more information than we should without realizing criminals can use that to target us. Keep specific information like your full name, address, birthday, and vacation plans off of social media. If someone on your social networks knows you might be away for an extended period of time that can make your offline personal belongings a target as well.

Keep your eyes on the device.

Losing your mobile device can be one of the worst things that can happen while traveling. It’s even worse if these devices are used to access sensitive information. It’s important to never leave devices or equipment such as USB or external storage devices unattended in public places. Always remember to keep your devices secured in taxis, airports, airplanes, and in your hotel room.

We hope you found these tips to be useful. It’s important to do your part to keep your data safe and prevent devastating damage from the hands of cyber criminals. Being proactive is the best way to ensure that cyber criminals stay as far away from our sensitive information as possible. If you found this article helpful feel free to share it with a friend.