Keep your devices secure while travelling
Packing for a vacation can feel stressful but being cyber safe for your trip shouldn’t be. Securing your devices before, during, and even after your trip is an important part of travelling to prevent cyber attacks, like malware, from compromising your personal or financial information.
Use this checklist to make cyber security the least stressful part of your vacation. Here are some tips and tricks that you can use to secure your devices:
Before you travel
- ✅ Lock your devices with a password, PIN or biometric to make them more difficult to access if they get lost or stolen
- ✅ Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) on all your devices and accounts to add an extra layer of protection
- ✅ Use a VPN on your device to safely connect to public Wi-Fi if necessary
- ✅ Download streaming content to your device from your secure home network to avoid using personal accounts on unsecure networks while you’re away
- ✅ Set up a firewall on your device to restrict malicious activity trying to connect to your device
- ✅ Enable anti-virus software to monitor your device for suspicious activity
- ✅ Update your app store authentication settings if you’re travelling with young children so they can’t make surprise purchases on your accounts if they borrow your devices
- ✅ Back up your data to a hard drive or cloud storage to avoid losing your personal information to cyber threats like ransomware
During your travel
- ✅ Disable your device’s Wi-Fi when you don’t need to connect to the internet to avoid accidentally connecting to unsecured networks
- ✅ Disable your Bluetooth when it isn’t in use so cyber criminals can’t connect to your device
- ✅ Keep your device with you at all times or lock devices in a safe if they aren’t being used
- ✅ Be aware of your surroundings and watch out for shoulder surfers trying to view your screen
- ✅ Do not use unknown, unsecured, or public Wi-Fi when accessing sensitive information (use your cellular data if possible, if not use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) for enhanced protection.))
- ✅ Do not use public charging kiosks, only use personal chargers, headphones, and other device accessories that you brought from home
After you travel
- ✅ Use anti-virus software to scan devices for malicious activity before connecting to your home network
- ✅ Delete apps that you used while travelling that you no longer need
- ✅ Check your financial accounts for any suspicious activities and report anything amiss to your financial institutions, local police, and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre
