The prospect of having internet access just about anywhere can be a “glittering lure”, to quote Don Draper on his Canon technology sales pitch. Beyond the immediate allurement, a more in depth acknowledgement of the potential liabilities that lie ahead once exposed to unsecured networks such as public WiFis or hotspots while travelling, is a risk to be reckoned with. Take aerial tech, the next big thing, bringing the Internet to everyone, everywhere, through drones, sats or high altitude balloons and you can easily paint the picture of what connectivity will come to mean, in terms of penetration and prevalence. Though we’re not there yet, one thing is for sure: it will happen.

Taking the path of data security is a no brainer in the ever evolving mobile connectivity environment of today and while your data may be well protected inside the enterprise gates, what happens when you travel and need to rely on unencrypted channels? More importantly, what happens with both your corporate and personal data as you use a range of personal devices that may or may not come with hardware encryption?

Banning corporate data access from personal smartphones or blocking enterprise email orVPN access on unknown devices its already a thing of the past, since IT is being challenged to enable safe access to employees remotely by providing mobileVPN, secure email, encrypted containers and virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). Living outside the data security paradigm is simply not smart anymore, whether we’re talking about corporate or personal data, it makes no difference really.

Particularly when travelling, the threat of a potential attack is real. Maybe you’re one of the lucky ones, who never experienced this kind of security issues but don’t rest on luck, there’s always a first time. Our friendly advice is: better yet, take all precautions then resume to “it will never happen to me” losing attitude. Here’s our top 6 tips for keeping your data secure, while travelling:

1. Update Software: almost all software update releases patch a serie of security vulnerabilities so keeping your software up to date is a good idea
2. Turn off cookies and autofill: a little inconvenience can go a long way toward data security
3. Chose your apps wisely: do some due diligence before downloading apps.
4. Be sure that all of your mobile devices have a remote wipe or autowipe feature. For Apple’s iPhone and iPad, there’s Apple’s MobileMe service. If one of your devices gets stolen, you can quickly and remotely perform a factory reset from any computer connected to the Internet, wiping out all of the device’s data and even locking it indefinitely.
5. Make sure you use a VPN connection in public wireless networks
6. Change passwords regularly: use strong passwords and change them every 6 months.