Cybersecurity Tips For The Frequent Flyer

Last updated on February 7th, 2025

If you travel often, then you already know that preparation is key. You have to be able to make your own security and success by being forward-thinking and able to adapt on the fly. Just as you would ensure your own safety and security while traveling, you should ensure the same for the digital technology that you rely on, as well. If you bring your laptop, smartphone, or any other digital device with you on your journeys, then you’re going to want to pay attention to the following advice.

Prepare your devices

Just as you want to make sure that you’re all packed and ready for your trip, with all your travel details planned out, and necessary documents at the ready, you should make sure that your devices are prepared, too. International travel requires a little more preparation, too.  Don’t leave any lingering updates on your phone, as these can include crucial security updates, too. Back up any data on your phone that’s vital to you, just to make sure that if your device goes missing, you don’t lose what’s important to you. If you don’t have the auto-lock feature on your device turned on, do it now, and make sure that any “find my device” feature available to you is turned on, as well.

Be data-secure

Data theft happens all the time, and you can be more susceptible to it while you’re traveling. Turn off any feature on your devices that might auto-connect you to publicly available or even semi-public yet password-protected networks. Some criminals can hack into and intercept data being sent and received through these networks, but if you use a VPN on public wifi, you can prevent them from being able to read exactly what data you are using. Be mindful of the kind of links you get while traveling, too. Geolocation can send you links to websites that are targeting locally, but you shouldn’t click on them, even if they look legitimate. You never know where that link is actually going to lead, nor who is going to be behind it.

Mind the threats

As mentioned above, there are threats more likely to target you digitally while you’re traveling. The kind of scam given as an example is a phishing scam, and they are incredibly common. Of course, another threat that’s common while traveling is having your devices physically stolen. Make sure your device is never unattended or unsecured. If you have it in a bag, make sure that you have a grip on that bag on that the bag is secured to your person and within eyeshot when in public places. If your hotel offers a safe, then keep your devices in that safe and make sure that you’re able to set the password. If you’re not able to set a safe or set your own safe password, then you might want to keep it on you, instead.

You don’t want the constant concern of people potentially snooping into your data or stealing your account details on your mind, so commit these tips to memory or make a checklist before you travel.