Looking forward we will hope a bit for a world when you are not locked down as much when things get normal. The world is struggling with the Coronavirus, we have lost at least 2 Million people due to it and traveling dramatically increases risk.  We will not be traveling for a while, but eventually we will. In 2021 will see the vaccines start to make a real impact for good.  With luck we will see people traveling around again. That means we will all need a refresher on cyber safe traveling.  So, with a bit of optimism about the future and trying to imagine a good place I am going to talk about travel and how everyone is trying to steal your data, infect your devices and be generally bad—ok so much for optimism.   Let’s talk about how to travel smart and things to consider when you do.

It can be a nice distraction to look out the window at the airport, but be sure to follow best practices

By keeping a few things in mind and taking several steps to prevent bad situations coming up you can travel quite safe.  It takes a bit of planning and actions to take beforehand, but you can be quite safe.  A bit of caution and planning goes a long way.  

Before you go:

• Encrypt your laptop, your phone and ensure they are password protected and auto-lock after a short amount of time of inactivity
• Get the most recent updates/patches for your system, up to the day you go if you can
• Set ‘remote wipe’ for your hardware if it is lost you can at least wipe it/lock it
• Back up all your files and leave a backup in a secure location (such as home)
• Make sure you have an extraordinarily strong password on all your devices   — See my post on Passwords here:  https://ericcrichardson.com/2021/01/14/the-gist-of-passwords/amp/
• Make sure, you are only taking any technology into a country what is allowed.  As a cybersecurity professional I cannot take certain software into China for example (Travel to China is literally its own article)
• Make a digital copy of your passport, driver’s license, credit cards, document with contact info, flight information etc. and always keep it on an encrypted USB device on your person- literally keep it on you 24/7 (X-ray machine in the airport as the exception)

While you are traveling:

• Keep your devices with you at all time- yes take your luggage to the bathroom/Toilet with you- yes, it is annoying, but your bags should be within reach every second when traveling.   There are other more general security reasons for this, but I am focusing on cybersecurity here. On the plane, keep your carry on directly above you and your laptop bag at your feet, which when you are in the air you can pull back towards your seat to help elevate your feet a bit for comfort.
• Shut off Bluetooth unless you absolutely need it (computers and phones)   
• This one may seem strange but never ever plug your phone into a public USB Charging station.  USB brings both power and data between devices. The data sharing is the risk here, it is possible that you may be the victim of what is known as “Juice Jacking” where you plug in for power and a nefarious entity is performing data theft or dropping a payload with malware on it. A bit more than 70% of the phones connected will be Android and most of the rest will be Apple based—so bad guys will know that and plan accordingly. Bring a battery to charge from.  Of course, if you just use an actual plug for an outlet that will remove the data risk, however I just use my battery as I an move about the airport or train station all I wish while charging, investing in a long USB cord is helpful for this as I usually keep my battery in my laptop bag and push the phone connector out of the headset pass through to my phone.
• Lock everything you can in the safe in your hotel room, they are by far not the most secure safe you’ll ever find as management can override it, but it does provide a layer of protection.  Usually, a laptop will fit as well as your other electronics.
• Try not to rely on free WI FI hot spots, they can be rife with hackers watching.  Using a VPN helps for sure, however. In fact, a rule of thumb is whenever you are traveling Always use a VPN when travelling—See my post on using a VPN here: https://ericcrichardson.com/2021/01/14/the-gist-of-passwords/amp/

If you want to be super secure you could get a burner phone which is a dumb phone via a pre-purchase for the country, you will be traveling to.   Also, you could bring a laptop with a less friendly operating system that is cheap such as Ubuntu Linux and just remote back to your main computer this way if you lose either the phone or the laptop your losses and potential data loss will be mitigated.  I will be honest with you, while I used to write and edit books about Linux, I prefer just using Windows- it is just easier.

By being smart and following prudent steps you can prevent possible attacks on your devices while traveling. One could literally write a book on steps to take but if you take nothing away from this be very aware there are bad guys out there trying to attack travelers.

@ericcrichardson