Boulder City Magazine is a monthly publication full of information about Boulder City and Southern Nevada. Boulder City Magazine features the Boulder City Home Guide, a real estate guide to Boulder City and Southern Nevada.

Tech Tip
by Brad Appleby
Appleby Arts

Travel Tech Tip

When we travel, a major internet security issue is that someone could be watching. Whether you are using a computer at an internet café or a borrowed Wi-Fi connection, security is an issue.

Internet cafés are public places, so you can never really guarantee your privacy at one. If you do need to use one, look for an internet café that gives you some level of privacy. It may cost a bit more, but it is worth it for the extra security. Security and privacy are not just about someone watching your PC monitor to obtain your personal information. Obtaining that information can also be done electronically by someone using key loggers and screen capture programs.

A key logger is a program (virus/spyware) that monitors your activities on the internet. These programs note the websites you visited and all the keys you pressed while in any website, and pipeline that data to the hard disk or to a website designed for such a purpose.

The screen capture program will save a copy of your screen every few seconds while you surf the internet. So as you visit your online bank to see if you have any money left, that information could be saved on the borrowed computer.

One way to counter the threat of key loggers and screen capture programs is to browse with your private laptop at an internet café. Your laptop should always have the latest antivirus and firewall software installed. If you are browsing via Wi-Fi at an internet café, make sure you are using a safe Wi-Fi connection. A Wi-Fi connection can be secured by antivirus software.

Always try to avoid using public computers found in internet cafés. If you do not have your own private laptop, there is very little you can do to protect your privacy at an internet café. If you do not have a laptop, get an iPad or android tablet to use for travel. Using these devices will safeguard your personal information, and you can send e-mails, watch movies and read e-books on the road.

Don’t forget to back up your important files like bookmarks, address book, photos and documents. Put your files on CD, flash drives or removable USB hard drives.

For more information about this and other Tech Tip articles, please contact Brad at
(702) 294-1392 or visit his web site at www.applebyarts.com.




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