In preparation for the holidays, the BEE SECURE initiative has released a guide to internet-related risks and tips for those jetting off.

In this list, BEE SECURE has advised to avoid advertising holiday departures on social networks, as someone could use it their advantage and gain insight into when a house is left empty and therefore more easy to rob. It is therefore better to keep geolocations off published photos or, better yet, publish them after the holiday.

The guide also warns against sharing private information, such as on e-banking or online shopping sites, on unsecured WiFi networks, as all people connected to the same network will be able to view the traffic generated. In a similar vein, it is important to log out of sessions on public or shared computers, and avoid performing privacy-sensitive activities. Using a private browser and clearing history will also help avoid leaked information.

Cookies used by online booking services often mean that holiday-goers may find prices substantially increase from the first time they view flights to the next time they reconnect to the site. For that reason, BEE SECURE suggests not checking prices too often, or to try connecting from different devices to check the offers available.

Automatic notifications on mobile phones should be turned off to avoid information read by other people, whilst each country has laws regarding legally searchable data, on which a holiday-goer should educate themselves prior to departure.

Data should be encrypted and options allowing for the blocking, geotagging and erasure of data and hardware remotely should be used in case theft occurs. backup to the Cloud is useful but not sufficient, with small hard drives and memory sticks allowing documents to be backed up over the holidays. If possible, the laptop should be left at home, BEE SECURE advised.

 

Photo by BEE SECURE