Must-Have Cybersecurity Tools For Travelling
Nov 05, 2021
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As the world slowly returns to its normal state more people are starting to travel again. Airports are open and airlines are slowly bringing back their standard routes to countries all around the world.
However, cybercrime has increased since the lockdown. This is mainly due to more people spending time online. Thus it is important to keep your devices secure when you are travelling.
Cybercrime is common on public WiFi hotspots, which is something that you might need to use while you travel abroad. Becoming a victim of cybercrime can be devastating, especially while you are in a foreign country.
Why is Cybersecurity Important When You Travel?
While travelling most people tend to overlook cybersecurity. This can leave their devices vulnerable to hackers who are looking to commit crimes. Cybercriminals will often target people whose devices are not secured.
Hackers can do a lot of damage once they have broken into your device. They can steal your personal information, lock you out of your bank accounts or even install malicious software on your devices. They can also commit crimes such as fraud and identity theft.
Having proper cybersecurity measures in place will prevent these cyberattacks from happening to you. You must ensure that your devices are secure before you begin travelling.
It is always best to be prepared before travelling because you might not find the time or secure internet to install cybersecurity tools on your device while you’re abroad.
3 Essential Cybersecurity Tools
There are crucial cybersecurity tools that you need to ensure are installed on your devices before you begin travelling. These will help you to keep your devices and accounts secure and prevent any cyberattacks.
These cybersecurity tools will not only help you while travelling, but they can also keep your devices secure while you’re at home or at work. It’s a good idea to always have some form of cybersecurity active on your devices.
VPN Software
VPN software is the most important cybersecurity tool to have while travelling. A VPN will encrypt your internet connection, which will prevent anyone else from seeing what is happening on your device while you are browsing the internet.
This is especially important when you’re using public WiFi hotspots as these are unsecured connections. This means that cybercriminals can easily infiltrate your device if you are on the same network as them.
They can do this by intercepting your connection to the router. Instead of your device relaying data straight to the router, it will instead be directed through the cybercriminal’s device.
However, if you are connected to a VPN, it will be impossible for a cybercriminal to intercept your connection thanks to it being encrypted. A cybercriminal will not be able to pick up your device at all while it is connected to the hotspot.
A VPN can help you even further while travelling by allowing you to connect to one of its global servers. This can help you to bypass any internet restrictions or geoblocking that might be present in the country you are visiting.
Antivirus Software
Antivirus software is essential to have while you are travelling. An antivirus will constantly scan your device for any malicious software such as viruses, spyware and ransomware. The antivirus software can then also take the necessary steps to remove the malicious software from your device.
Malicious software can be extremely dangerous, especially while you are travelling. For example, ransomware can encrypt your files or accounts, which will prevent you from accessing them until the ransom fee is paid to the criminal.
On the other hand, a virus can destroy files on your device, or it can destroy your device altogether. It simply is not worth taking this risk, especially if you are in a foreign country.
Before you travel you must also make sure that your antivirus software is up to date. Software updates are often brought out to fix any flaws that have been discovered in the system. They also add extra layers of defence against new hacking tactics.
Password Manager
One extremely important thing, especially when you travel abroad is to keep all of your accounts secure. Anything from social media accounts to emails and bank accounts could be at risk. The best way to keep them secure is by using strong and unique passwords.
Strong passwords are made up of random words, numbers or symbols. This means that it should not relate to any of your personal information such as your name or date of birth. Many people do use their personal information to create passwords because it is easier to remember. However, this is a big risk to take. If a cybercriminal was to get hold of any of your personal information they could use it to guess your passwords.
Your passwords also need to be unique. This means that each of your accounts needs to have a different password. If you have multiple accounts with the same password, they could all be breached at the same time.
The best way to keep track of your strong and unique passwords is by using a third-party password manager. The default password manager on your browser is not secure enough, and it can be breached by a hacker. Third-party password managers are much more secure as they will require you to log in and use an access key that is randomly generated and unique to your account.