These days, it seems, there are constant reminders that the Internet is not a secure place. With all the NSAs, Edward Snowdens, and Target hackers of the world, it’s safe to say that we should all be doing a lot more to protect ourselves and our data.
Conference Security Mistakes
Despite all this, “We need more free WiFi,” seems to be an ever common refrain at events, whether if it comes from attendees, planners or the general public. What people don’t like to think about or perhaps don’t know to think about, is Public WiFi is an extremely unsafe place for you and your data.Unfortunately, that open WiFi network you’re so happy to use could actually be your downfall. If you’ve ever experienced the confusion of having your credit card company call about a suspicious purchase and not been able to understand why or how your information was taken, when your credit card is still on you, you probably had your information stolen while you were at some point shopping on a public WiFi network.
Protect Yourself
While the WiFi at a conference may seem okay because it comes with a password, it may as well be considered public with the amount of people who have access to the password. So, here are ways you can protect yourself in a public place:Enable password and passcode protection on all of your important devices. I’m not really sure why people don’t use passwords to protect their devices, but they don’t. Before you go to a conference or event make sure passwords are activated in case, heaven forbid, your phone or laptop get stolen.Update you security settings. If you have your security settings already enabled, it may be worth it to go over them and set them so your devices lock quicker than you would have them lock if you were at work or at homeTurn off all sharing. The share settings are great for being at home and sharing files and devices or logging in remotely on your local network, but when your in public it’s easy for someone to access your files.Encrypt your communication lines, make sure any sites you use are SSL. Secure sites will begin with HTTPS and visiting only those websites, coupled with enabling SSL will keep your data encrypted. If you use unencrypted sites it’s possible anyone can see your history and what you’ve been searching.When in doubt, set up a VPN (Virtual Private Network). This is the most secure way to use the internet on a public network. It can be complicated to set up yourself, so, if safety is important to you it’s recommendable that you pay for a service that takes care of it for you.Happy Planning!