Public WiFi and Email Security | Is It Ever Safe?

Back in the days of AOL-dominated email, security wasn’t a huge issue. People used their email at home to communicate with friends and family. Wifi wasn’t a thing, so email security wasn’t a pressing concern. That’s no longer the case.

We use our email for work, shopping, sending confidential documents to lawyers, doctors, and other professionals. Our credit card information and other financial information lives in our email accounts. 

So how secure public wifi for our vital email security?

The Stakes of Email Security

Basically, if a hacker gets into your email, he has found a gold mine. When you connect to a WiFi network, your data is stored on the router for that network.

Using public wifi increases your susceptibility to this type of cybercrime because a hacker can set up a network in a public location, thereby gaining access to your data. This includes your email username and password.

How Can You Protect Yourself?

It’s an almost impossible job to refuse to ever link up to a public WiFi network. We take our jobs with us everywhere. We store important documents in our email that we need to reference when we are on the go. So, how do we protect our email?

Two-Factor Authentication

If your email allows you to require two-factor authentication, use that. This requires a notification to be sent another one of your devices, such as a cell phone, before a new sign-in attempt is allowed. Chances are the hacker won’t have access to both devices.

The Official Network

You can ask the establishment for the name of their network to help authenticate which network you are actually using. This isn’t a sure-fire way to protect yourself, but it’s one step in the right direction.

Trustwire: Always Safe

If you find yourself away from your secure home network, and you need to send or access files, look to Trustwire as a way to do this without compromising your email security. Trustwire functions kind of like email, in that you can access it from anywhere. What’s more, it’s easy to use.

Trustwire is different from email in that it uses the strongest form of encryption to protect your data, no matter where you access our web-based portal. Send your documents from the local coffee shop using Trustwire and be assured that even the most savvy hackers cannot access it. Problem solved. Click here to learn more.

Avoiding Cyber-Espionage in China and Hong Kong for Business Travelers

As China is the US’s second largest partner in trade, business travel to China and Hong Kong is essential. But should you be packing your laptop and smart devices? We’ll show you why avoiding cyber-espionage is essential for the business traveler.

Business Travel

Partnerships with Chinese companies remain lucrative and fruitful. Yet, many fear that traveling on business can leave their data subject to surveillance by the Chinese government. There is some evidence that Chinese custom officials were installing spyware on devices.

[Related: Stick to These Best Practices for Client Security]

China: A Surveillance State

For years, the Chinese government has been tracking its citizens: their travels, their credit, and their activity. This is daily life for Chinese citizens; however, this type of surveillance is highly suspect to Americans.

Unfortunately, many nations choose to spy on citizens of other nations as they travel. Much of the time this is for national security purposes. Yet, visitors tracked in China tend to be those who have important corporate ties—pointing to an economic incentive at hand.

[Related: WhatsApp Spyware and The Importance of Encryption for Human Rights Activists and Lawyers]

Corporate Espionage: Part of the Game?

While Chinese officials insist that corporate espionage takes place in many countries, yet the US government has publicized many recent cases of corporate espionage.

Avoiding Cyber-Espionage in China and Hong Kong

Here are some tips to take to avoid being subject to cyber-espionage while traveling on business to China or Hong Kong:

• Do not take un-needed electronics with sensitive data
• Consider using temporary laptops that have been cleared of sensitive data; ditto for cell phones
• Use thumb-drives for sensitive data, and open files on offline computers only
• In order to access files online, use a service like Trustwire, which is end-to-end encrypted and can be used on any computer.
• Keep in mind that all networks are owned and monitored by the Chinese government.
• Change passwords often.
• Back up your information.
• Do not accept thumb drives or other electronic devices as gifts.
• Remove cell phone batteries to limit tracking.

Depending on how sensitive your data can be, all these tips may not be necessary. Storing and transferring files on Trustwire is an easy and portable way to ensure the security of your business documents. Click here to find out more.

Business Travel Abroad | Protecting Secure Documents

One of the best things about our interconnected world is that we can often work from anywhere. This allows us the freedom to explore while managing to make a living. However, the need to protect secure documents when engaging in business travel abroad is a real need. We’ll outline the practices you should follow.

Business Travel & Cyber Security

The thing is, when you travel abroad for business or leisure, your sensitive data is up for grabs. Whether from foreign governments, corporate entities, or private illegal hackers, your email, documents, and data represent valuable capital for others.

So how is protecting secure documents possible when you have business travel abroad?

[Related: Top 5 Email Security Risks in 2019]

Consider a Password Manager

Companies like LastPass and 1Password allow you to manage your passwords in a way that makes them far less vulnerable to malicious actors. Both of these services are available at a low cost.

Also, when it comes to the security of your personal bank data, it’s worth asking your bank what they offer. Banks often have security measures available that aren’t well known to even their own customers.

Back Up Your Secure Documents

Backing up your secure documents is important so that a stolen device doesn’t mean that you’ve lost things permanently. Store this back up in a separate location that is also secure. Consider a physical drive, as well as an online back up.

[Related: Is Gmail Really Confidential?]

Trustwire offers cloud storage that boasts incredibly strong encryption to keep your documents safe from those with malicious intent. Furthermore, should your laptop go missing abroad, you can access 

Trustwire from any computer without worrying about it being compromised.

Protecting Secure Documents During Business Travel Abroad

Trustwire can be one of the components of cyber security for smart business professionals. Trustwire enables you to securely store and send documents regardless of your location or the device from which you access it. To learn more about our business or personal plans, click here.