Cybersecurity Tips for Traveling

Virus Protection

Many of the infected devices the Help Desk see come from people who have been traveling. One of the easiest ways to ensure you’re protected is by installing virus protection on your device. Computer viruses come in many different forms, but having an antivirus program installed will keep your computer running at its best, and give you a better chance at keeping your personal information safe.

Adelphi provides all resident students with a copy of the Sophos Antivirus Client, available through your RA, RHD or at the Help Desk in Swirbul Library.

Updates and Patches

Downloading and installing patches and updates released for your operating systems is another way to defend against cyber threats. Many updates don’t have flashy features, but they could potentially fix important security flaws. Keeping up to date is an important step to prevent cybercrime, and it is highly recommended to make sure everything is updated before beginning your travels.

Saving Your Data

If you fall victim to a cyber attack, you could lose access to all your important files and data that you have saved on your computer.

We recommend saving all of your work to the cloud. Saving your data to either Google Drive, Google Shared Drive or your Network Drives (H: and I: drives) ensures that your files are saved securely and automatically backed up.

Connecting to WiFi

With so many devices utilizing WiFi, you may be inclined to connect your device to any available connection. Connecting to public WiFi always comes with high risks, but can be even more dangerous while traveling, especially in a “touristy” area. It is highly likely that in these areas there may be public WiFi purposefully set up to lure people in and is most certainly a “trap”.

Remember that you have access to wireless internet through eduroam while traveling to other member institutions domestically or internationally.

Additional Clocks/Time Zones on Devices

Depending on where you travel, your location’s time zone may differ than the time zone at home, leaving you vulnerable for new threats at the wrong times. To avoid this, set up additional clocks on your mobile devices and computers, which will let you track the time changes and help you look out for suspicious activity. Most phones have a clock utility that allows you to view multiple times in different places. Similar apps are also available for other devices.

For Windows systems, follow these steps to set up multiple clocks:

1. Click to open Date and Time. using the Control Panel section of the computer.
2. Click the Additional Clocks tab.
3. For each clock, select the check box next to Show this clock. Select a time zone from the drop-down list, type a name for the clock (you can type up to 15 characters), and then click OK.

Windows can display up to three clocks: one for the local time and two for the times in other time zones. After you set up additional clocks, you can view them by clicking on or pointing to the taskbar clock.

Non-technical Tips

Not all best practices directly deal with information stored on your devices or how you use them. There are many non-technical steps you can take to lower your risk while traveling.

• Keep your eyes on your electronics. Loss or physical theft is a big concern.
• Using a privacy screen on the laptop to reduce the risk of people reading sensitive data from your screen.
• Limit how much sensitive information is stored on your laptop.

Keeping up with cybersecurity best practices is crucial. Don’t let a lost phone or a virus on your computer ruin your experience while traveling.