Traveling with technology is a topic that impacts many members of the UNC community. Staying digitally connected often means that you will connect your devices to public networks with minimal security measures in hotels, airports, train stations, and conference halls. These public networks often harbor malware from cybercriminals looking to steal your data for identity fraud, as well as nation-state actors targeting academic and business travelers for intellectual property.
When traveling with a UNC computer or a personal computer, remember these easy safety tips to keep your identity and personal information secure:
- Enable and use Bitlocker to encrypt your hard drive
- Add the HTTPS Everywhere plug-in to your browser(s)
- Do not connect to public wifi without a Virtual Private Network (VPN) when you are away from home, especially overseas.
- Download and install UNC-Chapel Hill’s VPN client for UNC related web and network use.
- Download and install one of cNet’s recommended VPN clients for personal use.
- Avoid unrecognized hotspots which may be hosted by hackers looking to mine your web traffic for banking, credit card, password and email information.
- Brush up on the safety of Public Wi-Fi with this article from Tripwire.
- Visit ITS’ Safe Computing site for more detailed information on travelling safely with technology.
For more information, visit go.unc.edu/CompuTips or contact F&O IT Security to discuss your exposures and options.