In the pandemic era, there are so many new and interesting travel tips floating around the web. Nowadays, flights can get cancelled at a whim and even hotels which you already booked may get shut down due to the dynamic unpredictable shaky state we are in with the pandemic and its ever-increasing related virus strains surfacing on a regular basis.
There is just so much to worry about, when traveling including hacking attacks in public network areas such as airports and public cafes which may have unsecured WiFi networks.
The main travel tip which we will discuss in this article is to ensure VPN is part and parcel of your personal and business travel experience.
VPN: Your Travel Cybersecurity & Cyberprivacy Partner
There are a myriad of items you need to worry about when you travel, such as passport validity and the visa needed for a particular country to ensuring you devices can connect to the electrical system of that country including travel insurance.
The last incident you need is for your endpoint devices to be hacked while you travel. Especially when you use these devices during your travel to make changes to reservations, check for flight status and stay in touch with friends and family.
A VPN client will encrypt your internet traffic data ALL THE TIME as long as it is on. What that means is that when your internet traffic leaves your endpoint device such as your laptop or tablet, the information is represented by random meaningless characters which will not allow a hacker to see your private information and hence prevent them to potentially use that information to infect your endpoint device such as laptop or tablet with malware.
This is ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT when travelling. Sometimes the fatigue factor can play a massive role in overlooking cybersecurity details we may notice with enough sleep.
For example, a very dangerous combination is to perhaps fill out a form on an unsecuresite (HTTP) where all your information is submitted in plain text. Imagine this is taking on an unsecure “free”WiFi network in an airport. Not only is your info in plain text, it is floating around the airport WiFi network for hackers to easily intercept.
With a VPN “always-on” even when you are in your most vulnerable tired state with multiple connecting flights, you data will always be encrypted and fully protected from the prying eyes of cyber spies and hackers.
VPN & Geo-Restrictions
Many sites and entertainment platforms such as Netflix and SoundCloud are bound by geo-restrictions which are in place for many legal reasons outside the scope of this short article.
The bottom line, if you are from the United States for example and traveling to Jamaica on a dream sunny one month getaway, you will surely still want to chillin the pool desk and listen to your favorite tunes on SoundCloud.
The annoying fact is that some songs will not be available in Jamaica. With a VPN client connected to a VPN server in the United States your IP and geo-location will appear as the United States to SoundCloud and your vacation will not impact your SoundCloud music experience.
The same goes for Netflix with many shows and movies visible at times at the United States, a VPN client will enable you to continue watching all the desired content.
