Surf's Up - A Quick Guide To Web Safety Abroad

Accessing the Internet whilst on holiday abroad is an increasing trend amongst British holiday makers. But is that Internet cafe down the road from the hotel safe and if it isn't, what steps can you take to make sure your surfing is secure? Our resident Internet expert Stuart took a look at the dangers of surfing abroad.

Surfing abroad can be a risky business to the unprepared, as hidden dangers lie out of sight. It might seem that you're flying along those familiar waves as if back home, but you may be tumbling towards the rocks without even realising it. Coming from C2 Internet, I am of course talking about surfing the web. As we are leaving the busiest time of year for holiday making then this may be a little late for some of you, but hopefully with your holiday fresh in your mind it will make you take note of the risks to your data security whilst abroad, that pose danger at a time when people may be likely to drop their guard. Whether we like it or not it is getting more and more difficult to stay completely offline when taking time off, but even if you’re just checking personal emails, you must be careful.

A convenient method of getting online when abroad is to use an Internet cafe; they can be found in almost every tourist destination and can even be found within many hotels. So for a small fee someone might jump on the Internet for 30mins, before logging out and heading back to the beach. This is fine if they were just having a look the weather forecasts and catching up on the news, but not so good if they logged into their online banking, their Gmail account or even worse, their company system. The biggest threat faced in using a publicly available computer to access the Internet comes from key loggers. This is usually done using a simple application that logs the keystrokes entered. This method is used for malicious purposes to obtain the user's complete login details. It could even be a hardware key logger, attached to the computer.

The only way of getting around this problem is to use your own device to access the Internet, no other solution can ensure your data security is secure on a public computer. This could mean using your laptop, tablet or even smart phone to connect to a wireless hot spot. If using your smart phone, you need to be very careful to ensure you don't mistakenly connect using your mobile Internet connection, as this could lead to a costly phone bill.

Unfortunately for those wanting to ensure their Internet usage is not intercepted, this is still not enough. Even if using your own device, the wireless connection itself may be intercepted. Most people these days are aware that they need to use a security key to secure their Internet usage. But the key is obviously no secret if it’s a publicly available connection, and someone can therefore use that to bypass the encryption. But before you start packing the satchel of pigeons into your suitcase, there is a safe way to surf, and it’s a lot less noisy and messy than using our feathered friends to communicate with friends and colleagues.

To secure your wireless hotspot usage, the best method is to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN). This can be used to connect from any wireless point, and it will encrypt the traffic. So what VPN should you use for safe web browsing, well that depends on what device you're connecting from. Below I have included a few examples of the sites that provide these services:

http://hidemyass.com/vpn/
(paid for service - covers most laptops, tablets, smart phones)

https://www.ipredator.se/
http://www.acevpn.com/
https://www.vpntunnel.se/en/

Most of the secure browsing VPN suppliers have user guides to take you through the process. I would add that when using a VPN, there is a method of quickly confirming that it’s ready, so that you can begin browsing safely. Before connecting the VPN go to:

http://www.whatismyip.com/

This website will display the public IP that (as far as the Internet is concerned) you are browsing from. Make a note of this IP and close the browser. Connect your VPN, now go to http://www.whatismyip.com/ again, the IP displayed on this website should now be completely different.

So there you go, you've gone from casually connecting on an Internet cafe computer and having a quick catch-up, to having to connect your smart phone up, then enabling a VPN to encrypt the traffic. Well I never said it was going to be plain sailing. This is not an exhaustive list, there are many methods to lessen the risk, but using your own device and a VPN is probably the best sure fire way of protecting yourself from the main dangers discussed in this article.

The potential threats continue to increase on the Internet, this is a trend that will not be stopping anytime soon, but with a little effort you can learn to safeguard your usage, so you can continue to enjoy the benefits without putting your privacy/finances at risk. Or as Jon Kabat-Zinn put it:

‘You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf’