Posted April 26, 2018 by Academic and Institutional Technology
Tags:
Security
Traveling with Technology this Summer
As summer approaches, you may be making plans to travel with your family or for work. Travel, both local and international, introduces unique cybersecurity concerns. Travelers are often vulnerable to theft, malicious software, and covert surveillance over insecure networks. In addition, international travel can involve privacy and data import/export laws different from those in the United States.
Some important steps to take before you travel with your Wheaton College technology:
Ask yourself, "Do I really need this device?"
What are you planning to do while traveling? Are your personal and/or Wheaton College-owned devices necessary to accomplish this? Unless you absolutely need the device, leave it behind. It is better to be slightly inconvenienced than take the risk of losing your device or dealing with a malware infection.
Ensure your computer has VPN installed
When you take your computer off-campus, make sure you are using Wheaton College’s Virtual Private Network (VPN) to access College systems and data. This provides secure access to College data. We recommend that you log into the Wheaton College network at least once a week, to ensure you have downloaded the latest security updates for your computer.
Ensure your device is encrypted.
Whole disk encryption is used to protect data on your device if it is lost or stolen. AIT is working to ensure all College-owned computers have whole disk encryption. If you would like to be sure your computer is encrypted, please contact the AIT Service Desk.
Change your password before and after your trip
Changing passwords to accounts you will use both before and after your trip will enhance the protection of those accounts.
Ensure your device has a password or pass code/pin to unlock the screen.
This is standard for all phones and tablets that access the Wheaton College email system, as well as all computers set up by AIT.
You can learn more in-depth details about the various cybersecurity situations that can arise while traveling, and the technology that can be used to help keep you safe, by watching Cybersecurity Awareness: Cybersecurity While Traveling on ThunderCloud Training. The entire course is only 1 hour long, and you can also watch bite-sized videos for the topics that interest you.
If you want to learn more about cybersecurity at Wheaton College and traveling with technology, visit www.wheaton.edu/cybersecurity.