Ogden Computers - Tulsa Computer Repair and Maintenance

Tips for Travel - Checking personal information

One of the biggest problems for travelers today is security of information when using public terminals. If you are a business person who travels a lot, then you probably have your own personal computer which you use when you travel, but if you are a small business person, or just vacationing, then you may not have your own travel laptop. How do you make sure that your information is safe when you access it?

In short, there’s no way to ensure that your information is secure when you are traveling, especially when you are using a terminal owned by someone else. The keyloggers (invisible programs that log your key strokes) have become very advanced and can now log everything from what you are typing, to what you are copying, to what you are clicking.

So, how do you minimize the risk of losing control of your accounts?

1. Change your passwords frequently. When you are traveling, change your password before you leave, then change it occasionally while you are traveling. While you may be giving the owners of the terminal you are currently using your new password, none of the other terminals that you have used before will have that new information.

2. Use a traveler’s email account. This isn’t any special email account. This is just a separate account that you can have your emails forwarded to while you are traveling. Consider any information that goes through this account to be public information (ie do not send or read sensitive information while on this account).

3. Use a password storage utility. Some people carry around USB flash drives which store all their passwords so that they don’t have to type them in. There are also versions of Firefox which are bootable from a flash drive. Since Firefox can store all your passwords, you can have it auto-fill your account information so that you neither have to type it, or store it on the clipboard. Some versions of Linux offer what’s called a live-cd which allows you to boot the computer off of the cd rather than the hard drive, thereby bypassing all of the invisible programs that boot with Windows (this option will not always be available as you may not have access to the cd-rom, or if the computer is anything other than a pc, plus, carrying a cd with you at all times may not be the most convenient option).

4. Don’t look at sensitive material on other people’s computers. I know that sometimes this is unavoidable, but the only way to be completely safe, is to not take the risk at all.

These are just a few tips to help reduce the risk when traveling. Just remember to evaluate the risk no matter where you go. A US Hilton Hotel is probably going to be less risky than a terminal in a small local internet cafe in Central America.