MacDirectory magazine is the premiere creative lifestyle magazine for Apple enthusiasts featuring interviews, in-depth tech reviews, Apple news, insights, latest Apple patents, apps, market analysis, entertainment and more.
Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/1190434
Beware of strange outlets We recommend that when you're in a public place like an airport lounge or a hotel business center, you never charge your device with a USB power port. Statistically speaking, it's probably unlikely that the airport or hotel was compromised by a hacker — but on the other hand, you have no way of knowing who installed those ports or who has regular access to them. In other words, don't take a chance if you don't have to (and with ordinary wall outlets everywhere, you don't have to risk plugging into a potentially malicious USB port). Use a VPN Whenever you're on a public network, whether it's in a Starbucks, at a highway rest area, or in an airport or hotel, anything you send over that network is at risk of being intercepted and monitored. If a network is poorly secured (and lots of networks are poorly secured), it's not going to take elite level hacking skills or exotic NSA scanning tools to capture and read network traffic: That's something well within the abilities of an ordinary malicious actor. And busy public places with lots of people coming and going and connecting to an insecure network are potential jackpots for cybercriminals. Aside from the security issue, there's also a privacy concern, because even if a network is secure, its administrators and the ISP can see what you're up to (yes, even if you're in "Private" Browsing mode). That's why we advise using a VPN (virtual private network) whenever you're connected to public WiFi. It encrypts all data leaving and entering your computer so that it's safe from prying eyes as it's routed through the public network. If you're using iOS, a VPN that we like to recommend is Guardian Firewall + VPN. For Macs and Windows machines, there are a number of reliable, cross-platform VPNs to choose from — just read the recent reviews to see how they've been performing for users of late. Lock it down One last aspect of cybersecurity while you're traveling is something that a lot of people overlook, perhaps because it's so "low tech", relatively speaking. We think about hackers infecting our computers with malware, or monitoring our network traffic from the next room, but sometimes we forget that our computers and mobile devices are physical things that have the disadvantage of any piece of physical property — namely, someone can pick them off and walk off with them, or sit down and start reading through our emails if we're careless enough to leave a laptop unattended in public. This is why you should always use a passcode or password of some sort to protect your mobile devices and laptops, and never walk away from a device in public without first sending it into a password-protected sleep or screensaver mode. If you have access to some form of biometric authentication like Face ID or Touch ID, that's even better. Home for the holidays Once you arrive at your destination, the hardest part is over, and your biggest worries should be about eating too much pie and avoiding political debates with your relatives. But there are still a couple of digital security issues to keep in mind before stuffing yourself with turkey, so read on: