Cybercriminals have been targeting airports, and the travel industry in general due to the fact people tend to let their guard down when they travel. This posture is doubly compromised when you are the on-point admin for so much of your network.

Before you head out the door on vacation or business, there are luckily a few steps you can take to protect yourself from the perils of cybercrime no matter where your wanderlust takes you.

1. 1. Verify each Wi-Fi network before connecting. Look for official notifications regarding the network connection and make sure the name is accurate. Additionally, be aware of any notifications related to the computer being used on a shared network. If you are a system administrator, hopefully you either have a VPN in place, a jump box, or another form of technical security in place.
   2. Always keep your devices with you and avoid leaving them unattended in public places. Don’t forget to add password protection and encryption to sensitive files as well; this will ensure that any data stored on your device remains secure even if it falls into the wrong hands.
   3. Arm yourself with dual factor authentication, so if you are an executive or entrepreneur, and your account is somehow exempted in any way from MFA policies, change that immediately.
   4. Leave Blueprints so you will always have coverage. Even if you don’t have someone on staff, bring in a partner, a trusted advisor, or even someone with a related but indirect role.

These are just the basics of protection, but they become much more important once you access things as an IT professional or a system administrator. You are a target and to malicious outsiders, between travel and your role, you are a weak point to target.

Source:

(1) Travelagewest

(2) Forbes

Image: Rudy and Peter Skitterians in Pixabay