Don’t be an ostrich this summer when it comes to your online security. In other words, don’t put your head in the ground when you take a vacation because hackers and malware NEVER take a vacation. So, while you’re on vacation, here are my “10 Tips” to protect your online security:
TIP 1: Don’t use Wi-Fi in airports or hotels – even if it’s free. Wi-Fi’s in those areas are usually open networks, meaning that anyone could see what you’re doing on the web.
TIP 2: Don’t post vacation updates on Facebook or Twitter while you’re away from home.
TIP 3: Don’t use Foursquare, Gowalla, or Yelp to check into places while away from home on vacation. (I never check-in on Foursquare, but I highly recommend that you don’t use it when out of your home area because you could return to a ransacked home.)
TIP 4: If you’re traveling with a laptop, encrypt your hard-drive (if you haven’t done so yet).
TIP 5: If you’re traveling with a smartphone and tablet, make sure to password-protect them.
TIP 6: Since a smartphone may be your most used gadget, review the app settings on a regular basis because their geo-tagging and privacy settings may change without alerting you.
TIP 7: Before you leave for a vacation, back-up your laptop.
TIP 8: Before you leave for a vacation, be sure to install a remote wipe app on your smartphone so that in the event you lose it away from home, you can wipe all the data remotely.
TIP 9: Don’t create an automatic response for your personal email saying that you are on vacation.
TIP 10: If you do early Christmas holiday shopping to take advantage of summer sales, don’t allow eCommerce sites to keep your credit card data. Register as a “guest” each time – it may take a little longer, but your data won’t stay with the retailer – and won’t be available if any type of data breach happens with the retailer’s site.
What would you add to the list?
