Travelling with a laptop a simple security checklist

Travel means a lot of Wi-Fi you do not control. Airport lounges, hotel rooms, trains and cafés. None of it needs to be scary, it just needs a few habits.

Before you go

Update your laptop and apps. Turn on two factor login for your email and bank. Make sure your laptop has a password and the disk is encrypted, which on Windows means BitLocker or Device Encryption.

Install your VPN at home and test it once. Sorting it out on hotel Wi-Fi is much harder.

On the road

Watch out for networks with names close to the real one. Ask staff which network is theirs if you are not sure. Connect your VPN before you log into anything.

Avoid public USB charging points where you can. Use your own plug instead.

At the hotel

Hotel Wi-Fi is shared with everyone in the building. A VPN keeps your traffic encrypted between your laptop and the VPN server so the hotel network only sees one tunnel.

Some hotels block normal VPN traffic. ROOT has more than one tunnel protocol, including one built for networks like that.

Your quick checklist

Update your laptop and apps before you leave.
Turn on two factor login for email and banking.
Install and test your VPN at home.
Connect the VPN before you log into anything on public Wi-Fi.

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Travelling with a laptop: common questions

Is hotel Wi-Fi safe?

It is shared with everyone in the hotel and run by someone you do not know. Most sites use HTTPS, but a VPN adds a layer of encryption over the whole connection.

Does ROOT VPN work on phones yet?

Windows is available now. The Android, iPhone and Mac apps are in testing.