Essential Tips for Travelling to India: Staying Secure Online

Whether you’re a tourist planning a trip to India, or you’re an Indian resident preparing for an overseas adventure, the precautions you should take around online security are very similar.

India has a very high connectivity rate and Wi-Fi hotspots are everywhere, especially in the larger cities. You should have no problems accessing any online services in India, but wherever you may be travelling, it’s important to follow many of these tips before you go away, as preparation and planning are more effective when done in plenty of time from the familiarity of home.

Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN):

Subscribing to a reliable India VPN is essential before starting your travels.

A VPN is a simple yet very effective tool that helps its users with online security and access to web-based services that might otherwise be blocked, depending on the user’s location. A VPN provider places an intermediary or ‘middleman’ server between the user’s device and whichever internet connection is available at the time. The VPN software client often uses a browser extension for platforms such as Google Chrome, Apple Safari or, for example, Microsoft Edge.

The VPN extension simply connects to the VPN server, which in turn connects to the desired online target of the user, whether that’s webmail, a hotel booking site or whatever.

The VPN intermediary server performs two functions: Firstly, it anonymizes the user’s connection, so not even their regular internet service provider (ISP) knows who is behind the session access. Secondly, the VPN server can connect to the internet from anywhere on the planet, so if a VPN user is on a Wi-Fi hotel connection in India, the person can choose from a selection of international servers; the person can appear to be located almost anywhere in the world – even somewhere like Bhutan – ‘The Land of Thunder Dragon’.

This location scrambling has significant advantages for online security and circumventing geographic access restrictions that are often encountered when people travel overseas.

Streaming without tears

Imagine taking a vacation to India if you’re a resident of the UK. You might well be addicted to your favourite shows on the BBC like ‘Eastenders’ or ‘Casualty’ – and while you’re away you’d like to keep up with the ongoing plot twists in these exciting dramas. But the BBC iPlayer’s streaming platform would detect an IP address in India and block your access. The iPlayer is only available to UK TV licence holders.

However, by using a VPN, it’s possible to choose a UK-based server whilst you are physically located in India, and within moments, the geographic restriction is lifted.

Don’t get caught by phishing scams

It’s always important to exercise caution when clicking on links or downloading attachments, especially in emails or messages from unknown senders. This is especially prevalent when joining free unsecured Wi-Fi hotspots when away on vacation. You might think you are logging on to a convenient free customer hotspot in a restaurant or hotel, but such networks are often cloned by hackers, who send phishing emails from these servers to install malware onto unsuspecting tourists’ devices.

Using a VPN can also safeguard against this, as good quality VPN providers always have state-of-the-art security built into the servers on their network. If a VPN server detected any malware or phishing activity, it would instantly disconnect the browser from the internet before any harm could be done.

Don’t back down, back up!

Before travelling, back up important data such as photos, documents and contacts to a secure location. It’s possible to use an external hard drive (HD) to do this, but in order to access that HD while you’re away, you either have to take it with you (which obviates the whole point of the backup in the first place!) or wait to restore your data when you return home. If going on a photo safari to capture images of exotic wildlife, back up any images taken at the end of each day to a separate SD card or upload to a cloud server daily.

Accordingly, the most secure method is to back up all your laptop or phone files onto an external HD and store it securely in your home – AND also back up things like contacts, diary events and important emails to a cloud-based service like Google Drive, Apple iCloud or Dropbox; whatever suits you best.

In this way, if your phone is lost or stolen, you can purchase a replacement while you’re still travelling, and download all essential data from the cloud backup with minimal interruption to your schedule.

Sweet 2FA

You can activate Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) for your email, credit cards, social media and online finance portals. This practice, whilst occasionally mildly inconvenient, adds an extra layer of security by requiring a second form of verification, such as a code sent to your phone, in addition to your password.

The only drawback to this is that it’s essential to have a phone signal as well as a data connection, but the two almost always go hand-in-hand, especially in a hyper-connected country like India.

Also, especially if you are a journalist or professional travelling on a business assignment, ensure that PINs and/or biometric authentication are enabled. Facilities such as fingerprint or face recognition are very difficult to hack. Additionally, consider enabling features like remote wipes and ‘find my phone’ in case your device gets lost or stolen.

Update Your Devices

Ensure that all your devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops have the latest software updates and security patches installed. These updates often include fixes for known security vulnerabilities. Using older versions of software and operating systems can leave your devices open to hackers, who can access your documents and passwords through un-patched security loopholes.

This is especially true of malware known as ‘zero-day’ threats; referring to the fact that the software provider (e.g. Microsoft) has only just learned of the flaw – which means they have ‘zero days’ to fix the problem.

Abracadabra!

Use strong and unique passwords, ensuring that they are not easily guessable. Also, try to avoid using the same password for multiple accounts. A reputable password manager such as DashLane or NordPass can generate and store complex passwords securely.

In summary, it’s important not to have nightmares about travelling and online security. Simply using these helpful tips will keep you safer than the person who hasn’t – and hackers always go for easy targets. So travel light and stay safe out there!

*This is a collaborative post