5 essential cybersecurity tips for Digital Nomads

But What is a Digital Nomad? ?

A Digital Nomad, or “digital nomad”, is a person who uses the power of the internet to work remotely from any location in the world. This modern way of working allows individuals to free themselves from the traditional office organization and adopt a flexible lifestyle. The key ingredient for a digital nomad is a stable and secure internet connectionwhich allows him to telework in good conditions and to accomplish its tasks anywhere.

Most of the time, these are self-employed or employees working from home permanently, whose main activity is digital. They rely heavily on the internet to stay in touch with clients, colleagues and employers. Through various communication tools and platforms, they can collaborate and communicate effectively, regardless of location.

Whether you want to work on a beach in Bali, in a café in Spain or a coworking space in the Maldives, the important thing when you are a Digital Nomad is to have a protected hardware and a secure connection.

Use a VPN

For digital nomads, using a VPN has become a common practice, even essential, to browse the Internet safely, especially when using public Wi-Fi networks. Here’s why :

Security on public Wi-Fi networks : VPNs encrypt your connection, protecting your data from hackers who might intercept sensitive information like your passwords or credit card details.

Access to geographically restricted content : A VPN allows you to bypass geographic restrictions, giving you access to content, such as shows and websites, that might be unavailable in your current region.

Online protection and anonymity : By hiding your IP address, VPNs prevent websites and services from tracking your online activities. Additionally, they prevent your Internet Service Provider from monitoring your activities, ensuring your privacy.

Solutions, like CyberGhost or NordVPN, use an AES-256 encryption algorithm and support protocols like OpenVPN, IKEv2/IPSec, and NordLynx, offering specialized servers for increased security and privacy.

Protect all your devices with an antivirus

Using an antivirus could have been our number one tip, but knowing that threats generally come from the Internet, securing your connection seemed a priority measure to us.

Installing an antivirus is essential for any user of a computer connected to the Internet, whether a Digital Nomad or a sedentary user. It is important to analyze your files and have real-time protection. Viruses, spyware and malware are all malicious programs that must be stopped before they can even reach your workstation. Firewalls, privacy settings, scheduling custom scans, and other protection measures are necessary to keep your data safe.

Note that security suites can perform these antivirus protection functions and also integrate a VPN, as is the case for Avast One or Norton 360 Deluxe. A complete solution that can save you some extra money.

Update all your software

Keeping your devices and software up to date is essential to avoid security breaches and other vulnerabilities in your system. To do this, several methods are available to you. For your operating system, it is generally possible to set automatic updates when it least bothers you in your digital activities.

For the software and drivers for your components, it’s a different story. It is possible to use a driver manager like Driver Genius and a update software for installed programs like iObit Software Updater. This software is generally offered with a free version which allows updates to be detected (the user is responsible for carrying out updates manually) and a paid version which automates updates.

As with VPNs, security suites like Avast One also include features for detecting outdated software and drivers.

Have a digital safe and encrypt your data

Protecting your sensitive data is also part of good digital habits to take to protect them from any attack. You can store your important files in a digital safe and even some password managers may have a specific folder for sensitive documents like Bitwarden.

Here again, some security suites may integrate a digital safe whose access is password protected, such as BitDefender Total Security. The data it contains is encrypted and inaccessible to any user who does not have the access code.

If you are looking for a software dedicated to encrypting your data, without going through a password manager or a security suite, the open source Cryptomator software could appeal to you. It creates vaults that appear as virtual hard drives. The documents it contains are encrypted, but so are the file names, meaning that even with access to the folders, they will remain undecryptable without the key.

Geolocate your device and block access to your devices

Whether you are a digital nomad or on a business trip, it is not uncommon to deal with pickpockets. It may therefore prove useful to implement lockdown measures both for your smartphone (pin code or fingerprint) and for your PC.

But also to plan for the worst… In addition to schedule regular backups of your files on cloud storage, you can install a geolocation application for your device. Some apps even allow the camera to be activated to take a photo of the thief.

If you have an Android smartphone, it is possible to activate the Find My Device function. Developed by Google, the system is linked to your Google account and allows you, from any workstation, to geolocate your lost or stolen device, ring it, block it or erase its contents. The same system also exists for iPhone users thanks to their iCloud account. Note that an Apple application called Locate allows you to list all of your devices from the Apple brand, Apple Watch, AirPods, Mac, iPhone, iPad and also the famous Airtags.

For owners of a Samsung device, the manufacturer has developed a similar system with, in addition, the possibility of backing up data before deleting the data as a last resort.

Microsoft has also thought about locating your laptop, with a native function, accessible from the privacy and security settings of your Microsoft account. Of course, you must first have activated geolocation on your PC. This app shows your device on a map and allows you to lock it remotely.