It is a common occurrence for many business employees; traveling, whether for business purposes or pleasure, comes with certain responsibilities and important considerations. You need to ensure you have everything needed while you’re away which means packing properly and organizing all of your travel essentials so that nothing is forgotten. Whatever your next travel plan involves, surely you won’t be leaving your laptop, tablet, and cell phone at home while you’re away. Traveling on the road with electronic devices is extremely common practice today, but what may be overlooked is the need to protect the sensitive data stored on these devices, by keeping your electronics secure throughout your trip.
With the Christmas season behind us, many are taking their New Year business trips, or traveling with their children for a winter vacation. The professionals at SAFESHRED want to provide you with some valuable tips to help prevent your information and devices from landing in the wrong hands.
Let’s review some great reminders while you’re away on travels:
- Back-up all information prior to leaving:Before you pack your bags for a weekend business trip or a weeklong getaway, make it a priority to back up any data that is currently being stored on your device(s), and copy it to any media device that is staying at home. For example, you may want to back the information up on a storage card, cloud, or computer, if these gadgets will be staying at home. Do your best to delete or transfer any personal confidential matters, like your social security number, passwords, credit card information etc. Think about storing this data in a safer location that provided more security. There’s no reason to keep this information stored on your portable devices.
- Travel lightly when possible:If it’s not an essential electronic or device that’s needed with you, it’s best to leave it behind. Only take with you items and personal belongings that are crucial for your trip.
- Make sure data is encrypted:We highly encourage you to check that your portable devices are encrypted. Why? Should you use public networks on the road, the risk of other users accessing your login details or emails, increase substantially if they in the nearby areas. Encrypting your data makes it unreadable and impracticable to those that aren’t equipped with the tools needed for unlocking.
- Lock all electronic devices:While an obvious security precaution, it should be stressed that you lock your computer and mobile device when it’s not being used; especially while travelling. Do this on a regular basis to help prevent and stop unauthorized persons from accessing your computer’s hard drive and private business information.
- Install anti-virus software on all devices: Viruses and hacking occur all of the time; the last thing you want to deal with is a virus while you’re away. To prevent this possibility, it’s best to install anti-virus software as well as perform regular updates on your personal computers so that all information remains secure without any worries.
- Use password protection on all electronics: Portable devices are very common targets for criminals because they are small and typically effortless to sell. Reduce the chances of sensitive information reaching the wrong hands, and put password protection on all devices. This should be the case for laptops, tablets, mobile phones, and more. Improve your security by using a combination of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, as well as special characters. Forget about using easy-to-guess passwords like birthdays, pet names, or anniversaries. All phones should be secured with passcode locks and if an option, touch IDs as well. When used for business processes, devices that need corporate email or networks should have secure passwords and be managed successfully by the tools in your mobile device.
- Delete any passwords saved on your devices: Login information that is saved for websites may seem suitable but these saved passwords can leave your private information at Signiant risk. For your protection, we encourage you to get rid of this selection entirely.
- Never leave devices unattended in a public location: Leaving your computer or cell phone in open view, increases the risk of having your property stolen. When able, keep all electronic devices in a covered purse, your pocket, or close to your body in general. If you misplace your phone or laptop or believe that it has been stolen, report this news right away to help ensure information isn’t compromised.
- Connect to encrypted networks: if you’re using public networks for internet purposes, check that they are encrypted first and only choose websites that are “https”. It may also be wise to contact your service provider for a global data package, if you’re travelling internationally.
- Find my iPhone/iPad/Mac: It is smart to enable your “Find My iPhone/iPad/Mac” feature on devices, as if something goes missing or is stolen unexpectedly, you can still locate your device.Call our team for more tips and details at 1-800-987-4733
