TOP TIPS FOR KEEPING YOUR
DATA SAFE WHILE TRAVELLING
AVOID INSECURE WIFI
In an increasingly mobile world, we often work from lounges, hotel rooms and coffee bars. Flexibility is paramount to secure employee productivity but knowing the risk of insecure WiFi is key.
Antoine’s top tip: Avoid Public WiFi, especially those without passwords or where the passwords are generic and publically displayed on a wall or message board. It’s more secure to tether your laptop to your phone than to an unknown public network.
If only public WiFi is available, it is important that you keep your credit card information safe at all times. If you don’t see the ‘lock’ in the URL bar within your browser, indicating a safe connection, then you shouldn’t enter any credit card details.
You should also use a ‘Virtual Private Network’ (VPN) as this ensures that your data is encrypted in transit. Employers will generally provide these at least for laptops, but may also provide it for phones too. If you don’t have one in place, speak to your company. Don’t try and download a free VPN service yourself – these have been shown to be the very opposite of secure.
PASSWORDS, PINS AND 2 FACTOR AUTHORISATION
Remembering multiple passwords, especially complex ones can be difficult (made easier by using a password manager). Needing two factor authorisation can also be inconvenient – but no matter how careful you are, devices get stolen and ‘hijacked’ by viruses – it’s critical to put preventative measures in place.
Antoine’s top tip: If your device is stolen or “hijacked”, you need to know that your accounts remain secure. You can achieve this by:
- Ensuring your phone has a PIN (preferably 6 digits).
- Having a different password (complex and unique) for each app to protect you against brute force attacks.
- Ensuring that you have two factor authentication enabled. This will ensure that you are notified is someone tries to hack into your account
GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
Keeping your device up to date is a good place to start, after all if you can’t roll out the latest security features you leave yourself exposed to unnecessary risk. However – this precaution alone will only take you so far.
Antoine’s top tip: Step one - Where ever possible encrypt your device. This ensures that if it is stolen or inadvertently left in a location such as a taxi, that no one can read the device without the appropriate passwords/pins. Step Two - Backup everything: you should always have a backup of all your documents and contacts. Sometimes a device is unrecoverable, or comprised to too great an extent. If you have backed up your information, then you can quickly pick up where you left off.
BLUETOOTH AND CONTACTLESS PAYMENT
You jump into the car and your phone automatically connects - easy. However, this very clever Bluetooth technology designed to bring convenience can in fact be your data security downfall.
Antoine’s top tip: Turn off Near Field Communications (NFC) and Bluetooth when not absolutely required. As a general rule, the fewer paths a “bad actor” has to access a device, the more secure your device will be. You are at particular risk if you use contactless payment.
GETTING BACK ON TRACK
Even when you take the right precautions, your digital security is unlikely to be bullet proof. Today, with attacks more and more likely, preparing for what you will do if you get hacked is as important as the precautions you take to avoid such a situation.
Antoine’s top tips: There are a number of services that allow you to understand whether your details are being sold/traded on the darkweb. Most anti-virus products will offer this service. If you think your device has been compromised, contact your IT department immediately. If criminals can access your device, the entire organisation could be at risk. Speed is of the essence here.
About Antoine
Responsible for Reed & Mackay's technology innovation across the globe, Antoine and his team are the custodians of Reed & Mackay’s global innovation roadmap. Always at the forefront of ‘what’s new’, Antoine ensures that Reed & Mackay can meet the ever changing needs of Reed & Mackay’s global client base, delivering solutions not just now but for the future.
