VPN?

Others got hacked? Is this reference to specific people you know? What happened on the hack? How did they know?
If you want secure, you need the VPN, I guess.

I got hacked in Rothenburg. The hackers demanded a ransom in German and bitcoin to unlock access to my tablet. I don’t speak German and don’t have bitcoins. I was able to get the tablet functioning again on my own later that day so they weren’t very good hackers. This was 7 years ago so I imagine the cyber hackers are more sophisticated now. So I have VPN on my IPad now and turn it on when out of the country. I am not sure how often hacking happens but I don’t want to lose access to my IPad.

It doesn't prevent hacking, it secures data you send or receive. So either get one, or don't do anything sensitive like banking while you're away from home

https://www.seat61.com/websites/vpn.htm

My husband uses one all the time but especially for financial transactions or even looking at a bank statement.

To prevent hacking, be sure you are always on a WiFi network that is password protected or on the cellular network. Don’t be tempted by networks on trains, for example, that have no privacy and are likely being used by everyone in the train.

Be aware that there are downsides to adding another (complex) layer to what's already going on, like a VPN.

I put one on my trip to Italy and France just before the bug hit. In Venice I had mysterious errors like "file not found" when I tried to connect to the Hotel's Wi-Fi. I found out that a lot of the Hotels (especially the older structures) have terrible Wi-Fi.

Turns out anything below a certain connection speed gave the VPN (NordVPN) fits when you tried to sign on. And the error msg(s) were bizarre.

(I've heard of Software people not wanting to make helpful error msg(s) in cases like that so as to not be helpful to people trying to hack it.)

Almost, seems like it would be good, to stay away from wifi.

you can't stay away from wifi, that's like saying don't eat or drink anything on vacation. just be internet-wise.

You can completely stay away from WiFi if you have mobile data service on your phone while traveling.

We used Nord VPN on hotel Wi-Fis in Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland with no problems. DH needed it for work emails and stuff. We never do online banking on our portable devices.

So, you wouldn't do banking from your phone? I would never do it through wifi.

there is some debate about whether it's safe to do banking from a cellphone, perhaps ask your bank for input

I'm getting ready to sign up for VPN for this upcoming trip. I will be gone a month and will have to take care of some banking needs while I'm traveling, so I'd rather play it safe and not have to worry about someone accessing my financial data.

I was reading one of Cameron's articles and he mentioned that he uses a VPN called TunnelBear, which looks good, is inexpensive and easy to you. Plus you can use it on more than one device.

I used to use Witopia but have switched to Nord VPN. Not only does it protect you when traveling (or in your local coffee shops, etc.), but it will "put you in" the UK so you can watch the BBC from your American couch (or watch US Netflix when you're in Europe -- but who wants to watch US TV while in Europe?).

I see Google Fi (cell carrier) has a built in VPN service that you can switch on or off.

Can anyone speak to that? Thx