If you are traveling for work and you want to make sure you will be extra secure online, there are some tips you should follow to prevent hacking issues. The most important ones are avoiding public WiFi and USB ports, making sure you are using a cloud network, and keeping all your systems up to date. We will explain more here.
Keep all systems updated
Keeping all your systems up to date is crucial before traveling as this can be a lot of effort to arrange when you’re abroad. You will need to make sure your laptop has antivirus software installed that covers everything on your laptop, especially anything financial-related. Before traveling you can change your passwords and make sure you have shared the new ones with the team in a safe way. Using basic passwords isn’t a good idea, go for something difficult to guess. You can always change these again when you get back home to stay extra safe.
If you think updating systems and getting everything in order will take you a while and you’re extra busy at the moment, you can always hire corporate travel management services to provide some help with travel plans. They will organize flights and anything you need assistance with, and also be available 24/7 to answer any questions.
Make sure your team are set up on a cloud network
It’s a good idea to make sure everyone is using the same work cloud area, whether you’re abroad or not. Using a cloud network can be beneficial if you travel a lot for business, or you work remotely, as it enables the team to access documents in one place. This will also mean everything work-related is saved in one place in cloud storage too. Cloud networks are often very secure as they have built-in antivirus systems and you won’t need to email or share any documents with colleagues when you are abroad, they will all be in one place on the cloud.
Avoid public WiFi
One way to ensure your business documents and information stay safe on your laptop when you are traveling abroad is to generally limit the time you spend online. Only go online if you really have to, you will probably want to be exploring when you aren’t working anyway. When you do go online, don’t use public WiFi if you can help it, it isn’t secure and will be unencrypted. This can leave you vulnerable to data theft, the last thing you want to happen on a business trip. Data can be intercepted over public WiFi and anything like passwords and financial information can be stolen. Avoid public WiFi altogether.
Use USB outlets, not ports
Not everyone knows this, but using USB ports isn’t a good option. Hackers can use these hubs to install fake USB charging ports and this can lead to data theft. There should be plenty of normal power plugs to charge your devices anyway. In emergencies you might really need to charge your laptop, you could turn the power completely off if you have to charge it, but you could always carry alternatives like power banks.
Now you know exactly what to look out for when you are traveling for business you will be safe and secure, and hopefully face no problems. It’s worth remembering all these tips as it only takes one little mistake to get hacked or have malware installed on your laptop unfortunately.
