TECH TALK
3. VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) are your friend. They do not solve all cyber issues you are facing, but they certainly seem to go a long way toward doing so. There are many articles on how to choose one of the thousands of VPNs out there, and many are free, so you have no excuses. Google “VPN” to get smart about this topic and download and install one. I actually have two on my smartphone, since I ran into issues with my primary one, but my backup seems to run a bit slower at times, hence the need to have a choice to switch between the two at times.
4. When not using your Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, turn them off. This includes turning off the WiFi auto- connecting to networks option.
5. Be a bit paranoid at public USB charging stations. Yes, it not very likely that a criminal tampered with an airport charging station (which has better security than most establishments), but if a charging system looks like it may have been fiddled with, avoid it. You have two options here: either buy a USB Data Blocker (Google this, they are rather inexpensive and stop tampered USB connections from accessing your devices’ data – I have two different units and use them when traveling), and/or, use a portable battery power pack unit. Portable batteries are becoming very inexpensive, and I have several for trips (when I need to charge up my phone for taking pictures) and one in my car for emergencies. These come in handy when you least expect it. A word of warning when you see a USB charging cable laying around a public area (or a USB flash drive), do not use it! Help others by throwing it in the trash where it belongs. You may also want to bring a USB wall plug
with a charger to power up your devices since this is much more secure than any USB station.
6. Be sure to shred your tickets and any travel documents with any information about yourself. This includes boarding passes, hotel information, old luggage tags, etc. Tear them up and dispose of them so that someone cannot easily put them back together enough to learn about you. Identity thieves can easily recreate your identity from such data, so do not make it easy on them.
7. Try and use either cash or credit cards for all purchases when traveling (or even at home). Debit cards are not your friend, as noted earlier.
IN-FLIGHT Finally, you board, take your cramped seat, wonder why you cannot afford to travel in upper-class seats, and try and settle in to enjoy your flight to some exotic location (or visiting the mother-in-law). Since you are flying an aircraft without a good in-flight entertainment, or one that may not be operational (argh), you can either read that tattered airline magazine or buy the Internet access from the airline’s communications provider. This is a very heavily protected network connection which you access via Wi-Fi, so you feel safe. Wrong. Do not let your guard
down now, not after you ran the gauntlet at the airport and survived (maybe)! You should never use an aircraft’s
Internet access without doing two things. First, use a VPN (see a pattern forming here?), since you are on a shared network and anyone with cyber skills will have an easy time gathering all of your transmitted data unless you encrypt it with a VPN.
Secondly, make sure you are actually connecting to the exact name of the network as identified in the airlines’ literature for this Internet service in your seat pocket. Hackers can easily create a similar sounding network name that you think is the correct one. And this is one of the easiest tactics for anyone who is trying to gather identities and stolen data. Or you can just bring your own magazine or two, or watch the IFE it is available. Either is a better choice.
FINALLY Did this article scare you enough to consider taking further steps in securing your digital life? While I do not like to resort to such tactics, they seem quite necessary for most people. It does not take much effort to reduce your risk in regards to digital devices while traveling far or around your neighborhood. Get a VPN. Turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when not using them. Use strong passwords. Be a bit paranoid, since yes, Mulder, they are after you (and your data).
John Pawlicki is CEO and principal of OPM Research. He also works with Information Tool Designers (ITD), where he consults to
the DOT’s Volpe Center, handling various technology and cyber security projects for the FAA and DHS. He managed and deployed various products over the years, including the launch of CertiPath (with world’s first commercial PKI bridge). John has also been onic FAA 8130-3 forms, as well as in defining digital identities with PKI. His recent publication, ‘Aerospace Marketplaces Report,’ which analyzed third-party sites that support the trading of aircraft parts, is available on
OPMResearch.com as a PDF download, or a printed book version is available on
Amazon.com.
30
DOMmagazine.com | oct 2019
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92
