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18 tips to protect iPhone/tablet and laptop when you travel

Whether it’s a long vacation or a weekend break, always remember to keep your mobile devices up to date. We’ve put together some useful tips for you to help protect your equipment while you travel. Be vigilant and attentive even in the most beautiful time of the year.

Many of the tips are also suitable for the daily use of mobile devices.
Be sure to use strong passwords for all your devices!
Read our password tips.

Additionally protect your devices with security software (antivirus/antispyware).

Always up-to-date
Get used to downloading and installing the latest updates on a regular basis for all devices.
Enable Autolock and password protection on the iphone.
Turn off Bluetooth
Turn off Bluetooth when you no longer need it. Everyone who is near can probably intercept your signal and access your phone.
IMEI
Note the unique device number of your i-Phone. This device number is called IMEI: International Mobile Station Equipment Identity. The IMEI appears when you start the phone app and enter this code: * # 06 #. You can write down the IMEI and keep it safe.
W-Lan
Use only secure W-Lan access (https). It is best to use a VPN service. Take care. If you don’t use VPN, anyone can capture your identity information and credit card data, and read your emails.
Check your accounts
Check your sensitive accounts (bank account), etc. regularly to detect unauthorized access at an early stage.
Social Media
Do not tell anyone on your social media channels that you are on vacation. Don’t talk about when you’re going to travel, or where you go.
Not without my laptop
Never leave your laptop unattended! Not at the airport, in public transport, the hotel room, etc. If it can not be avoided, put it in a stable bag and secure it with a safety cable with lock on a heavy, immovable object (e.g. a heater). If you travel often, it is worthwhile to buy a Pacsafe.
Not a good partnership
Do never keep the password together with the laptop or iPhone!
Never check-in the laptop on the flight Always in the hand luggage. When you go through the security check, look exactly where your laptop is. It is best to keep it back until the person in front of you has already passed through the detector. This is the only way to ensure that you do not lose sight of it.
Use tracking software (find my Mac)
Backup, Backup, Backup
Before you travel, you should make a backup and keep this home. So you own a copy of your data for the worst case.
Camouflage your laptop
If you carry your laptop in a luxurious laptop bag, this could grab someones attention. Use a laptop backpack or an opaque bag. Even a linen bag does a good job here. In any case, something completely inconspicuous.
Airplane/Train/Bus
Stay watchful. If you are not using your laptop on the plane, put it under the seat in front of you. Never in the luggage racks above the seats, where strangers have easy access to it. This also applies to other modes of transportation such as train or bus. Always keep the laptop in sight.
Taxi/rental car
Don’t storage your mobile devices in the trunk of a taxi. Always take them to the passenger compartment. If you use a rental car, never leave your mobile devices unattended in the car. Not even for a few minutes.
In public
If you are using your laptop in public, do not allow anyone to look over your shoulder, when you enter a password. If possible, do not have highly confidential conversations with your iPhone.
Passwords
Prepare an (encrypted) USB stick or a written list of passwords for your accesses. After a loss of the laptop, password changes must be made on various accounts (PayPal, e-mail account, etc.).
Never use Airport USB charging stations
“Plugging into a public USB port is kind of like finding a toothbrush on the side of the road and deciding to stick it in your mouth. You have no idea where that thing has been,” says Caleb Barlow, Vice President of X-Force Threat Intelligence at IBM Security. “And remember that that USB port can pass data.” It’s much safer to bring your regular charger along and plug it into a wall outlet or, alternatively, bring a portable power bank to recharge your phone when you’re low on bars. Forbes article

If it is possible, leave your laptop at home and buy a simple phone that you can use on travel.

Would like to learn more about how to encrypt your sensitive data on your MacBook or iPhone/iPad? Check out SimpleumSafe.

Want to learn more about which security settings exist on your MacBook and which of them you have enabled? Free download our security advisor SimpleumCheck.

Have a safe journey and relaxed holidays.

Sincerely yours Simpleum Team

Declutter your iPhone - 7 fast and easy tips

At the beginning there is always the question: Do I really need this?
Do I actually need to keep every photo, music track and app on my iPhone/iPad, in case of cases?

The answer is no.

We’ve put together some useful tips to help you with the first steps.

Before you get started you should definitely create a b a c k u p.

We wish you lots of fun to clean up!

1. Optimize storage space

Take a close look at which of your apps and files use up the most space.

Go to: > Settings > General > iPhone Storage

There you can see in detail which applications and files consume which space. You can delete the apps you never use. Take a closer look at your music and photo library. It lists exactly which media use up how much space. Delete what you no longer need.

2. Empty history in Safari

Open Safari, tap the open book icon at the bottom of the screen, then tap the clock in the top navigation bar on the next page. Now you can delete the history.

3. iMessage

Messages sent and received with iMessage can be stored indefinitely. Often they are still embellished with photos, GIF, s etc. and just take away space. The mode of how long messages should be stored can be changed.

> Settings > scroll down > Click Messages > Message history

Here you can choose how long to store the messages.

You might want to keep the messages but remove the big attachments?

> Settings > General > iPhone storage > Messages > Review Large Attachments

You are able to delete large attachments here.

4. Delete Apps

Which apps do you really use regularly? If you haven’t used apps in the last three months, delete them. In the apps you want to keep, you should also regularly empty the history.

For example, with Instagram, this is how you do it:

> Menu > Settings > Privacy and security > Scroll down to > Delete search history

5. Use thematic folders for the apps

If you have to constantly scroll your way through a variety of apps, it’s very exhausting. Now that you’ve deleted some old apps, you can create themed folders and put all the similar apps in them. For example, create a folder “Photos” and store all apps related to photo/photo editing.

Create folders:

Press an app icon until all the icons start to wobble. Then drag an app icon to another and automatically a new folder is created. The folder can then be renamed immediately.

A tidy screen gives a tidy feel.

6. Sorting out photos and videos

Sie müssen sicher nicht jedes Foto aufbewahren, auch nicht zehn mal dasselbe Motiv aus einem anderen Blickwinkel. Räumen Sie auf. Löschen Sie alle Fotos, die verwackelt, unscharf oder unbrauchbar sind sofort. Am Besten direkt nach dem Fotografieren.

You certainly don’t have to keep every photo, even ten times the same subject from a different angle. Delete any photos that are blurred, fuzzy or unusable immediately right after taking pictures.

Store photos you can’t separate from via the Mac on an external hard drive or in the cloud.

Get used to not capturing every second of your life in photos. Less is more. Enjoy the moment.

7. Clean Up contacts

When was the last time you looked through your contacts? If you can’t assign a face to a name, it’s time to say goodbye.

We hope to have helped you with our tips. It is advisable to check iPhone storage from time to time and check, where a lot of storage is consumed.

Here are our clean-up tips for the Mac: 10 easy tips to declutter your Mac.

Sincerely yours
Simpleum Team

Maybe this article is interesting to you? 10 easy tips for your Mac to save time

take encrypted photos - SimpleumSafe with File Manager for iOS

SimpleumSafe is an easy-to-use app for password-based encryption of personal and professional data and a file manager for iOS.

With SimpleumSafe it is possible to create and use different Safes. The main feature is the file manager. It is easy to add files to SimpleumSafe from other apps. All files can although easily be accessed from other apps. Everything can be organized similar to the Mac Finder or Windows Explorer.
Tags help to mark and organize files and folders.

Files are displayed in the list view or in the thumbnail view. With the Image Viewer and Slideshow, you can easily navigate through a larger number of images and files in Full Screen Mode.

You can take photos directly from the app and save them immediately encrypted in the Safe.

SimpleumSafe is designed for the consumer, who wants to protect and archive personal information, as well as for companies who are interested to protect personal information and secret documents from unauthorized access. Read also: Data security in business use. SimpleumSafe is a suitable technical solution for the protection of digital personal data in accordance with GDPR. More Information.

Extensive Features

Synchronization of Safes between iPad, iPhone and Mac with iCloud or Wireless (without Internet)
Simple and intuitive usability, no technical knowledge is needed
Security made in Germany
Strong encryption with AES-256. All files in a Safe are encrypted
Organize your files as you like it (create folders, rename, copy, move, duplicate, trash, delete files)
Picture Viewer and Slide Show in Full Screen mode
Show file content for Microsoft Office and iWork, PDF, RTF, TXT, Images, Text, Videos, Audio …
Mark files and folders with tags or as Favorites for quick access
Add files from any App which supports Action Extensions or Document Provider Extension
Export files by using Share-Button or Document Provider Extension
Number of files and size is only limited by the free space of your device
Unlimited number of Safes
Add photos and videos from photo library directly from the App

Take encrypted photos or capture videos directly from the App and store them securely
Create and edit text files
Comment files
Create recovery password
Screen protection when in background
Access files in Safe from the Files App
View files in list or icon view (previews)

SimpleumSafe helps you to technically implement the required protection of documents with personal data in accordance with the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).

Sincerely yours
Simpleum Team