How to Stay Safe Online When Traveling

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Traveling can be incredibly exciting. It gives you an opportunity to meet interesting people and forget about day-to-day troubles. Unfortunately, it can quickly become stressful and frustrating, particularly if you are not careful while surfing the internet while waiting to board a plane or sitting on a bus. With so many public Wi-Fi networks around you that you can connect to, you can easily end up being targeted by hackers and having sensitive information stolen.

Luckily, you can always do something to prevent that from happening! For starters, you should only stick to visiting websites that you know are safe, avoid using public Wi-Fi networks, and make use of a VPN. Aside from that, you might want to keep your devices updated, set strong passwords, and watch out for phishing scams. Last but not least, you might want to consider traveling with a burner phone instead of the one that you use on a daily basis. Do you want to learn more? If so, read on! Below, you will find a few tips on staying safe online when traveling.

Stick to Safe Websites

When it comes to the safety of your devices and the data stored on them, you should never underestimate the importance of only accessing websites that you know are safe. While you might feel tempted to check out a new blog or a random website while sitting at the airport, you never really know who is behind it.

So, before accessing any website while traveling, you should check whether it can be trusted. To do that, you can use a service like Norton Safe Web, which will analyze the site that you want to visit and tell you if it is safe before you access it. Alternatively, just stick to the most popular websites and social media platforms, especially those with decent reviews – here you can check the Casino-Mate review.

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Avoid Using Public Wi-Fi Networks

Staying connected to the internet while traveling is important, as it gives you access to essential services like email and social media. Doing all that can certainly be made easier with public Wi-Fi networks. However, using such networks comes with a number of risks that you need to be aware of. For example, you might end up connecting to a fake network created by hackers to steal personal information. In addition to that, if you connect to an unsecured network, someone might be able to eavesdrop on your online activity. So, instead of using public Wi-Fi networks, you might want to use your mobile data instead.

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Make Use of a VPN

If you really need to connect to a public Wi-Fi network while traveling, make sure that you do so using a VPN. A VPN will encrypt your internet traffic and prevent anyone from monitoring it. What is more, it will give you access to geo-blocked content, which can really come in handy if you want to watch TV shows or movies that are not available in the country that you are in.

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Update Your Devices Regularly

All devices need to be updated regularly to make sure that they are running as smoothly as possible. However, when it comes to the safety of your devices and the data stored on them, updates are even more important because they often address security vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit to get access to your information. For that reason, before you go on your next trip, make sure that you update all your devices.

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Set Strong Passwords

If you want to keep your devices and accounts safe while traveling, make sure that you set strong passwords for them. A strong password should consist of at least six characters that are a combination of symbols, numbers, and letters. Other than that, you should never use the same password for multiple accounts, and change passwords at least every few months. To make it all easier, you could use a password manager to generate and store strong passwords for all accounts that you create.

Watch Out for Phishing Scams

Phishing scams are a popular method that hackers use to trick people into giving up sensitive information like credit card numbers, banking details, and login credentials. So, while traveling, you need to be extra careful not to fall for any phishing scams. In other words, you should never click on links or download attachments sent to you via email or instant messaging apps unless you are absolutely sure that they are safe.

Travel with a Burner Phone

Last but not least, you might want to consider using a burner phone instead of the one that you would normally use. A burner phone is a cheap, disposable phone that you can purchase and use while traveling. It is especially useful if you are going to be traveling to some of the poorest countries in the world, as pricey smartphones are really sought after by local thieves. With a burner phone, you will not have to worry about someone stealing a valuable possession of yours and gaining access to all of your personal information.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, there are plenty of ways to stay safe online when traveling. All you need to do is make sure that you only access websites that you know are safe, avoid using public Wi-Fi networks, and make use of a VPN. In addition to that, you should update your devices regularly, set strong passwords, and watch out for phishing scams.

While some of these tips might sound like common sense, it’s important to remember that hackers are constantly coming up with new ways to trick people into giving them access to their devices and accounts. So, even if you think that you know everything there is to know about staying safe online, you should still be extra careful while traveling. By doing so, you will significantly reduce the chances of having your personal information stolen by hackers.

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