As a guy that is on the go all the time with work, I’m always taking my electronic lifesavers with me (laptop, cell phone, tablet) wherever I’m headed. And even when I find myself with a few precious moments in paradise—like my last little trip to the Gulf coast—I have my moments when I let my guard down a little and want to just hang out at a Margaritaville.
And when I was sitting in that beach front Margaritaville-like paradise, I notice that a lot of people didn’t have a care in the world- especially when it came to security. Doors left unlocked, beach bags strewn around empty pool chairs and towels and even money and IDs left on tables. Everyone was relaxed to the point where it was rubbing off on even me—and my inner IT security cynic.
What I realized when getting a look at hard cold reality upon coming back to reality of airplane security lines lately is that we really can’t risk it anymore. I certainly couldn’t afford to have risked losing my phone (too much data) not to mention my work laptop that I brought along just in case someone called or something came up.
While I am fortunate never to have had my room ram-shacked and values stolen, I’ve heard too many stories of that dream trip to Mexico, Thailand, London, Vegas—you name the place—where someone’s room got broken into and someone’s phone, laptop, or wallet walked away. I really hate to be a party pooper, but you really have to be careful, especially when it comes to your data and priceless photos and files. So, I decided to come up with a few tips for all of you vacation-goers this summer to make sure you’ve got everything you need backed up before taking off on that aluminum bird in the sky.
- Do a thorough backup before you take off. External drives are pretty cheap these days- I’d recommend doing a full backup of your personal machine before you leave. Leave that drive locked up at home and make another full back-up on an encrypted USB and bring that one along- just in case you need a plan B and are in a jam while in between margaritas (or whatever umbrella-filled drink you might fancy).
- VPN in to work. Remember that even when you’re in paradise, someone is somewhere (likely not paradise), trying to get into your system. Use a VPN connection to connect to your business networks to be sure you don’t open the door to bigger problems later.
- Only bring what you need. If you foresee having to work on your vacation, I can empathize. But I want to emphasize that you should only bring what you’ll need. If that means taking a web book and securely connecting back to your office that might be better than lugging all of your data in tow. I’d also say, you’re better off taking an older laptop if you need to reconnect with the real world for a moment or want to sync all of those vacation photos.
- Use the cloud. Along with point 3, cloud services are probably the best solution to folks on the go. I opt for cloud vs hard disk space whenever I travel. Your files get pushed up quickly and no worry of losing anything (none of those precious moments will be forgotten!).
- Lock things up. While hotel safes are far from Fort Knox, put your laptop, tablet and other electronics in your room safe when out and about and use a secure pin only you know. If you don’t have a safe, at least hide your electronics out of plain sight. Let obscurity be part of your security- remember, thieves will look for the easy steals.
Now armed with some preventative measures to keep safe on your vacation, I hope you have a happy and carefree summer holiday at the beach or wherever the wind or roads take you!
And if you have any concerns, feel free to contact us before your next trip. We’re here to prevent and eliminate technical headaches.
