Traveling With a Laptop

Scenario: Traveling with a Laptop

You have a laptop with a wireless card that you take with you when you're traveling, to use it in places like libraries, coffeehouses, and hotels with networking available for guests. You want to know how to keep your laptop safe as you travel. (And if you go to get a refill on your cafe au lait or to check out a useful book, you want to make sure your laptop will still be there when you get back to your seat!)

What you can do

There are two components to laptop security when you're traveling: physical security (making sure the laptop can't be taken) and data security (making sure that your computer is protected from viruses and intrusions, and making sure that your passwords are protected when you transmit them on the network).

Physical security

Locking the laptop to furniture: Campus Stores offers laptop computer locks at a discount for University students, faculty, and staff. Similar to bicycle locks, these cables will securely attach a laptop to a solid piece of furniture. All laptops have a slot designed for these laptop locks.

Locking the screen: In addition to locking the computer to a piece of furniture before you walk away, you should also lock the computer screen so that no one else can walk up and use your computer.

• On a Windows system, press Control-Alt-Delete and select Lock Computer from the list of options. When you return, you can unlock the computer with your login name and password.
  
  
• On a Macintosh OS X system, in the Security section of the System Preferences panel, select the check box beside "Require password to wake this computer from sleep or screen saver." Then go to the Desktop and Screen Saver section of the System and Preferences panel and turn on a screen saver.
  
  
• On most Linux distributions with the KDE desktop, the key combination of Ctrl + Alt + L will lock the screen. (The screen lock can also be accessed by right-clicking in empty space on the screen and choosing either Log Out or Lock Screen.)

Data security: software and networking

Laptop security basics: For the essential recommendations on laptop data security (including antivirus and anti-spyware software, system patching, password security, and the like), see the Laptop scenario.

Personal firewalls: A personal firewall, which is used to block intrusions from the outside network, is particularly useful to laptop users who take their computers to multiple networks with unknown security configurations. Firewalls can block types of attacks that antivirus software won't detect.

Wireless precautions: If you use unencrypted wireless networks frequently, your data and passwords are much more vulnerable to being "sniffed" (intercepted by another user on the same network) than those of wired users. To help combat this, you can connect to the UIUC VPN server from any wireless network in the world.

For more information, see VPN for Wireless Users (which explains why the UIUC VPN is particularly useful for wireless users) and VPN for Wired Users (which explains why the UIUC VPN is particularly useful for users on a remote network outside UIUCnet).