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How To Stay Safe Online When You’re Traveling

Travel can be a mind-opening and life-altering experience. Whether you’re traveling for business, for pleasure, or to visit your family in your hometown, it’s always great to get away from the drudgery of your daily routine to see new things and meet new people.
However, unfamiliar places can bring unfamiliar dangers. And while you’ve likely been told to not keep your valuables on your person in case you get mugged or to lock yourself in a small cabinet when visiting family so they can never find you again, the rules for safely using technology while you travel are a bit nebulous at times.
Never fear: we’ve got you covered. Here’s how to keep your personal information safe when visiting an unfamiliar — or all too familiar — locale.

Business travel

Wow — you’re important enough that it’s actually necessary for you go to a whole different city or country for work. Because you’re needed there. Ok. Are you Beyonce or something?!
Anyway business travel has its own set of risks and challenges, so here are some things to keep in mind.

  • Bring only what you need. Increasingly, security personnel at airports will look through devices to determine if their owner poses a security threat. And the risk of having something stolen is greater in unfamiliar environments. Bring the tools you need to safely work, but don’t bring anything you don’t absolutely need.
  • Keep your devices on you at all times. Yes, the danger of security going through your phone is real, but don’t check your work laptop that has all your company’s trade secrets. If one of your devices gets lost, then anyone who finds it will be able to hack into it and figure out when your next secret album is dropping. (You are Beyonce, aren’t you?!)
  • Don’t trust the Wi-Fi. This is always a solid tip, but especially important when you’re traveling for business. Never use unfamiliar public Wi-Fi to do official company business or any sensitive personal browsing. Doing so leaves you open to hacking, government surveillance, and increased risk of malware being installed on your device.
  • Use a VPN. If you’re traveling for business, all of your internet browsing should happen while connected to a VPN. Many companies require you to use a VPN to log into their networks while working, but if your company doesn’t, invest in one.
  • Consult your company’s IT department before you leave. Ask your IT department if there are any special considerations for working remotely in the country you’re visiting, unless your IT department is just three people sitting in a basement. Then just follow the tips above and also begin looking for a new job.

Personal travel

Wow — you’d rather explore the world than sit at home in your sad studio apartment with your cat. Because you want to. Ok.
When traveling for pleasure, you should bring only what you need, be wary of Wi-Fi, and keep all devices on your at all times, as mentioned above. Here are some additional tips for world explorers.

  • Wait until you get home to post pictures. It’s tempting to post all your sexy beach pics immediately to make others jealous, but it’s best to wait so you’re not advertising that your home is empty or giving away your location.
  • Don’t do any crimes online. If you do venture on the Wi-Fi, make sure you know that laws in the country you’re in. For instance, don’t go on adult sites in Cuba and don’t trash the government on social media in China — it won’t turn out well for you!
  • Password protect all your mobile devices. You should always have strong passwords in place for all your hardware and online accounts, but it’s particularly important when you’re traveling. Have strong passwords for hardware and two-factor authentication for all accounts.
  • Don’t swim with your phone in your pocket. This has nothing to do with online safety, it’s just better if you don’t.

Visiting your family in your hometown

Oh man — how’d you get tricked into visiting your hometown? Whether you’re home for the holidays or visiting your beloved family dog Sparky, your hometown is full of dangers

  • Stay in a hotel on the dark side of town. Do not reveal the location of this hotel to anyone. Pay in cash and use “Jon Bon Jovi” as a pseudonym.
  • Do not complain about your mom’s meatloaf on social media. Similar to complaining about the government in China, this will get you into big trouble.
  • Turn off all location-sharing capabilities on your phone, and make sure your phone isn’t set to automatically connect to Wi-Fi. Government agencies and your mom can use this information to track your location.
  • Whoops — your mom found you at your sketchy hotel because Jon Bon Jovi is a pretty obvious pseudonym. Grab Sparky and leave in the night.

Traveling can be a minefield of digital dangers, but as long as you exercise reasonable caution and refrain from using the pseudonym “Jon Bon Jovi,” you should have a safe trip. Bon Voyage, Beyonce!

The Growth of Privacy – VPNs and Beyond

We all expect to have our private matters kept away from the prying eyes of strangers. Recent years have seen a flurry of wild reports on the grapevine, from federal agencies spying on telephonic conversations to personal data being stolen from the cloud and used for unintended means. As far fetched as they may seem to the average personal internet user, many of them are true.

The gravity of the situation truly came to light in 2017 when the US Congress and Senate approved the decision to remove privacy protection for internet users. This was no doubt backed by corporate powerhouses looking to sell and buy data. USA, the land of dreams, fell prey to prying and spying, and was criticized by many for selling out the privacy of its own citizens.

In the thick of things: Telcos

Telecommunication companies, or telcos, are right at the center of the storm. Increasingly under scrutiny due to the rapid increase in cellular users, these companies actively trade-off between the multipolar attraction of user privacy, revenues off data sharing, and network exploitation.

Verizon is one of four cellular service providers who have agreed to halt the selling of user location to data brokers.  This is a direct result of increasing pressure from regulators to protect cell phone users.

However, regardless of the role that Telcos eventually adopt, users too are adopting safe measures for the protection of their data. The data security market is expected to be worth $22.85 billion by 2020. As for today, there are an array of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) and personalised solutions to the classic problems of privacy.

With this in mind, we thought it would pertinent to give a 101 of the most popular option; one that helps create a virtual bubble to protect our privacy from prying eyes.

What are VPNs?

VPNs are rapidly gaining popularity with both corporations and individuals.

The term stands for Virtual Private Network and basically allows users:

  • to access private networks securely
  • remotely share data through public networks.

In other words, it allows an individual / firm to protect their identity, and data, from unauthorized users online.

What VPNs do

  • They secure sensitive data online and during transfer/use.
  • They encrypt data – even if data gets stolen, encryption makes it of little use to the average hacker.
  • Bypassing of content filters becomes possible; this can be godsend in countries such as China, where whole stratas of the internet are blocked due to stringent internet policies.
  • Data can be shared for an extended period.
  • You can browse the web in complete anonymity. Continuing from the Chinese example above, you would not want the government to go through your ‘How to launch an Arab Spring’ reading list.
  • Implementation of a VPN system increases bandwidth and efficiency.

Given all the benefits of VPNs, it does come to mind that the setting up and running of a VPN would be a complicated process. Surprisingly, with the help of COTS solutions, it is as simple as typing in a password and username. VPNs work on the basis of protocols that are constantly being upgraded and improved. The most common are:

  1. PPTP

PPTP stands for Point to Point Tunneling Protocol and has been around since the 1990s. PPTP works by encapsulating the data pocket rather than encrypting the information. This particular system owes its popularity to its adaptability towards almost every operating system. With the advent of stronger and more secure protocols, the credibility of PPTP has been called into question. It is still a strong VPN, just not the most secure option available.

  1. L2TP/IPsec

L2TP and IPsec are actually two different protocols that are often used in combination. This is because pairing the two adds their most coveted properties together to form a reinforced security. L2TP is unable to encrypt data so it generates a secure tunnel, while simultaneously IPsec takes charge of encryption channel security as well as data integrity to ensure that the channel of communication remains uncompromised.

  1. Open VPN

Open VPN has gained immense popularity. This is largely due to the fact that it is freely available and thus the cost factor, which might otherwise weigh heavily, is completely eradicated.

Treasuring your Privacy

Data protection can be expensive: most good data privacy services cost a good deal of money. Here are some tips to make sure you get the most bang for your buck.

  • KillSwitch works to ensure that the data remains safe in case the connection drops.
    There are two main types; one blocks internet traffic in case the VPN drops while the other shuts down applications.
  • Use P2P servers to download torrents.
  • Make sure the settings of the VPN are set to protect against any data leaks.
  • Use the VPN service diligently on your mobile phones, especially when visiting countries with strict data theft records, such as China and the UAE.

VPNs have multitudes of benefits that have been mentioned above. However, like every other thing, they also have disadvantages.

  • With rising awareness about the threats to  personal privacy comes a larger demand for VPNs. Wherever there will be an increased demand for a particular service, it gives corporations the incentive to step in and exploit that demand through commercialization.
  • Free VPNs are opted for by most – since they are free, of course. However, “free” VPNs that are used to access blocked sites and such often allow or fall prey to malicious third parties. Even more regrettable is the fact that many of these popular solutions may come with their own set of adware and spyware, thereby granting the developer access to sensitive information.

In the grand scheme of things, many individuals consider the loss of their data inconsequential: “what would anyone achieve by accessing our personal information?” Despite the growth of the privacy industry, this fatal error is not so uncommon. Businesses, on the other hand, with decades of lessons learned behind them, are unlikely to make the same mistake.

Reference Links

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/07/10/the-future-of-the-vpn-market/#22a967602e4d

https://www.forbes.com/sites/enriquedans/2017/03/29/the-upcoming-spread-of-vpns/#423a6b4679a3

https://gizmodo.com/5990192/vpns-what-they-do-how-they-work-and-why-youre-dumb-for-not-using-one

https://www.ibvpn.com/2010/02/8-advantages-of-using-vpn/

How The Government Just Killed Your Online Privacy

You aren’t valuable. Not to online companies. From a financial point of view, you just don’t hold much value to them. The money they make from having you as a user is relatively inconsequential.

It’s shocking to hear this, but it’s a fact of how online businesses operate. And once you understand how they operate you understand your true value in this world.

You see, you as an individual are not valuable…but…the data about you is valuable.

That’s what online companies are after. Whether it’s Facebook, Google, Twitter, or the Internet Service Providers (ISP), they all want data about you.

The more data the better.

They don’t care if your name is Max Jones. They care about your hobbies and interests. They care if you have a wife and kids, and the age and gender of each kid. They care about your education, what you do for a living, and how much money you make. They care about your political beliefs. You get the idea.

Your value isn’t in you as a person but you as a compilation of data.

This is how online companies make money. They compile as much data as possible on all their users to sell to advertisers. When Nike wants to advertise online, Facebook can tell them exactly which of their users are active athletes.

If this economy were a prison then your data would be the carton of cigarettes.

Needless to say, this setup should worry you. Whether you guard your privacy like a hawk or you openly share every detail about your life, it’s disturbing that your value is based on what people know about you.

And it’s about to get worse.

ISP-y on you without your consent

ISPs are, to put it kindly, not well regarded in the consumer world. As a matter of fact, they’re the most hated companies in the country. When you overtake airlines on the hatred scale, you know you’re something special.

The FCC understood the nature of ISP’s so they previously put restrictions on them with regard to your data. The restrictions required ISP’s to explicitly get your consent before they sold your data.

It was a good idea to do this so, of course, it didn’t last long.

Now, thanks to legislation passed in Congress, ISP’s will have an easier time selling your data.  All the previous restrictions that were placed on them have now been lifted.

Yup, the most hated companies can now take your data without your consent and sell it to the highest bidder.

Who says democracy doesn’t work?

ISP’s were able to successfully argue that since Google and Facebook don’t have restrictions on selling data that neither should they. This logic doesn’t hold up well for many reasons.

For starters, Google and Facebook are free services, while ISP’s are already taking a good chunk of your money.

There’s also the slight detail that ISP’s are essentially monopolies.

If you use a website (such as Facebook) and disagree with their privacy rules then you can choose not to use them or to use another website. But that doesn’t work with ISP’s. So you’re stuck with what you’ve got.

They know you don’t have a choice and they’re taking advantage of their monopoly. No wonder they’re so hated.

Privacy advocates are understandably upset about this whole scenario. In addition to data about you personally, ISP’s are also able to sell your browsing history, app usage, and even location information.

Your options are limited.

The one time you want to reduce your value

How ISP’s make money is their concern. Protecting your data is your concern. As it stands now, the battle is between you and them. So what can you do to fight this battle?

Well, we know your value to ISP’s is based on the data you (unwillingly) provide to them. So you can look into ways to kill your value.

If they can’t get your data then they can’t sell your data.

One of the best tricks you can use is to create a Virtual Private Network (VPN). A VPN essentially adds a layer between your computer and the internet, which hides your browsing from ISPs.

Related to VPN technology, you can also use a private browser such as TOR. TOR was created explicitly to prevent unwanted access to your browsing habits.

Search engines are another problem is this world. So many of them track your search history. If you want to use a search engine that doesn’t track you then you should try DuckDuckGo.

As you can see there are many tools available to help you protect your data.

Ultimately you can’t change how ISP’s operate, and you can’t change how your value to them is based on them violating your privacy, but you can change how much data they can access.

You can control your data.

It’s a shame that it we have to take these measures but the government is enabling this system so we need to protect ourselves. Hopefully, with enough outcry, the legislation will go back to putting the restrictions on ISP’s.

After all, why would anyone want the most hated companies in America to sell your data?