Keeping Your Devices and Data Safe While Traveling

Why Digital Security Matters More When You Travel

At home, you control your network, your environment, and your routines. On the road, that control evaporates fast. You're connecting to unfamiliar networks, handing your passport to strangers, and navigating crowded spaces where shoulder-surfing is easy. The risks aren't hypothetical — lost and stolen devices are among the most common travel mishaps, and the personal and financial data on a modern smartphone makes it a valuable target.

The good news: you don't need a cybersecurity degree to protect yourself. A handful of habits, set up before you leave home, dramatically reduce your exposure. See our guide to handling common travel emergencies for the broader picture of staying prepared abroad.

Public Wi-Fi, Hotspots, and Safer Alternatives

Hotel lobbies, airport gates, and coffee shops all offer free Wi-Fi — and all of them can expose your traffic to other users on the same network. This doesn't mean you'll definitely be compromised, but it does mean you shouldn't log into your bank, health portal, or work accounts on an open network without a layer of protection.

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) encrypts your connection so that even if someone intercepts your traffic, they can't read it. Many are straightforward to set up before a trip. Alternatively, using your phone's cellular data as a personal hotspot sidesteps the problem entirely — especially useful if you have an unlocked phone that accepts a local SIM.

Before You Leave: Device Settings That Matter

Pre-trip prep is the highest-return investment in travel security. Spending 20 minutes with your devices before departure can save enormous headaches later. Check out overlooked security settings on phones and laptops that are easy to enable and rarely turned on by default.

If you're traveling internationally, also consider what's on your device. Some countries' border agencies can demand access to phones or laptops, and in certain jurisdictions they are legally permitted to search them. Traveling with a stripped-down device — or one with only the accounts you need — limits what's exposed. This is especially worth thinking through if you're carrying sensitive work data.

If Your Device Is Lost or Stolen

Act fast. Both iOS and Android include built-in tools — Find My and Find My Device, respectively — that let you locate, lock, or remotely erase a device from another phone or computer. These only work if location services were enabled beforehand and the device has internet access, so configure them before you travel.

Contact your carrier immediately to suspend service on a stolen phone so it can't rack up charges. Then change passwords for any accounts that were signed in on the device, starting with email — since email is often the key to resetting everything else. For more on cleaning up before parting with a device, our device security checklist walks through the key steps. Store copies of critical documents — passport, travel insurance, itinerary — in a secure cloud folder so losing a device doesn't mean losing access to them.