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Smart Devices & The Internet Make It Easier To Take A World Cruise


Keith1010
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One of the challenges with being away from home for a World Cruise is being able to monitor financial records, bills, etc. and your place of residence. With each passing year this gets easier.

 

I do advise having someone such as a neighbor or relative check your place of residence from time to time while you are away there are many additional things you can do to monitor the residence and to feel more secure.

 

-Smart Lights. In lieu of traditional timers you can install smart lights which you can control with a smart phone

app. One of the benefits is the ability to adjust the start and end time for each light based on daylight savings and standard times.

 

-Indoor and outdoor security cameras. Both of these devices give you additional visibility of your residence. They allow you to see inside your residence and also to know if anyone out of the ordinary has come onto your property.

 

-Smart doorbells. Many of these allow you to actually speak with someone remotely who comes to your door, provide a record of anyone coming to your door, being away of unexpected package deliveries and a deterrent to someone who sees this device.

 

-Smart Irrigation Controllers. You can purchase an irrigation control box with wi fi capability allowing you to change the schedule for your sprinkler at any given time. Often World Cruises begin in the winter and end n the spring and this would allow you to increase or decrease sprinkler times accordingly.

 

-Smart Thermostat. You will have visibility to your AC/Heating and you can make adjustments based on the time of year to potentially prevent frozen pipes if there is abnormally cold weather or odor should the weather be abnormally hot.

 

There are certainly other smart devices to give you more control of your household and more peace of mind but I thought this was a good start for those who want to consider adding one or more of these devises to your residence. An example included smart smoke and or carbon monoxide detectors.

 

In terms of finances, bills etc. with a lot of planning one should be able to automate most if not all of their bills so that they are paid by a credit card or their checking accounts and also have the ability to monitor all of this. There might be an exception from time to time but the majority of these bills should be able to be automated and you can eliminate hard copy bills if you so choose. The benefit of the latter is coming home to far less mail.

 

I do recommend checking your credit cards and other financial accounts regularly to catch something out of the norm such as a credit card being compromised sooner rather than later.

 

Keith

Edited by Keith1010
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Tanks for the tips, Keith.

i am typically cautious about checking my financial accounts over public internet. I've read that setting up a VPN is a good way to do this securely, but I've never done it.

Do you have tips for securely checking your accounts?

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Tanks for the tips, Keith.

i am typically cautious about checking my financial accounts over public internet. I've read that setting up a VPN is a good way to do this securely, but I've never done it.

Do you have tips for securely checking your accounts?

 

You are very welcome.

 

I have not set up a VPN but I feel very comfortable checking my accounts on the cruise ship. I won't use wifi in port. I am sure that my security settings are on so my data is not shared with anyone.

 

Keith

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You are very welcome.

 

I have not set up a VPN but I feel very comfortable checking my accounts on the cruise ship. I won't use wifi in port. I am sure that my security settings are on so my data is not shared with anyone.

 

Keith

 

Keith, thanks for starting this thread. Can you elaborate on how you are sure your security settings are on? Do you mean the ship's security settings or your financial website account settings?

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Keith, thanks for starting this thread. Can you elaborate on how you are sure your security settings are on? Do you mean the ship's security settings or your financial website account settings?

 

I'm certainly no expert, but will try to answer.

 

I use a Win 10 laptop and when signing into a public network always ensure network discovery & file/printer sharing is off. If already online, you can check your current settings by selecting:

 

- Settings - Network & Internet - Network & Sharing Centre - Change Advanced Sharing Settings

 

On the next screen you can turn on/off these options. If on a public network, both should be off.

 

When surfing online, routinely check the URL area to confirm you are using HTTPS:// and not HTTP://

 

Our bank's online banking uses a rotating question after entering the User ID/Password. The bank also requires any device to have 128-bit encryption, so all communications between my laptop and bank servers is encrypted. While there is no guarantee the transmissions won't be intercepted, it is highly unlikely.

 

On our last WC, I logged into online banking once per month from the ship and did not experience any issues.

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Keith, thanks for starting this thread. Can you elaborate on how you are sure your security settings are on? Do you mean the ship's security settings or your financial website account settings?

 

You are very welcome.

 

I just make sure our security settings are on with respect to the computer such as going into my settings and making sure the firewall is secure and turned on .

 

In short I would go through all of your privacy settings.

 

Keith

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I feel good about the financial systems web sites. They all have extra security checks.

 

 

I do check them daily. In one day something can go wrong so I always think it is wise to monitor them daily.

 

 

You can cause fraud right away rather than if you wait a few weeks.

 

 

Keith

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I'm certainly no expert, but will try to answer.

 

I use a Win 10 laptop and when signing into a public network always ensure network discovery & file/printer sharing is off. If already online, you can check your current settings by selecting:

 

- Settings - Network & Internet - Network & Sharing Centre - Change Advanced Sharing Settings

 

On the next screen you can turn on/off these options. If on a public network, both should be off.

 

When surfing online, routinely check the URL area to confirm you are using HTTPS:// and not HTTP://

 

Our bank's online banking uses a rotating question after entering the User ID/Password. The bank also requires any device to have 128-bit encryption, so all communications between my laptop and bank servers is encrypted. While there is no guarantee the transmissions won't be intercepted, it is highly unlikely.

 

On our last WC, I logged into online banking once per month from the ship and did not experience any issues.

 

Andy and Judi, thanks for providing all those ideas. I have not used a laptop while cruising (use the ship terminals) and still trying to decide about using the laptop or tablet.

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You are very welcome.

 

I just make sure our security settings are on with respect to the computer such as going into my settings and making sure the firewall is secure and turned on .

 

In short I would go through all of your privacy settings.

 

Keith

 

Keith, thanks for the reply. You are talking about your own computer settings. Not sure if I want to use my laptop or tablet, still thinking about it. But if I do, I would take advantage of the settings like you do.

Tom

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Andy and Judi, thanks for providing all those ideas. I have not used a laptop while cruising (use the ship terminals) and still trying to decide about using the laptop or tablet.

 

Personally, I would not use the ship's shared terminals to access any of my financial accounts or email. I always bring my laptop.

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Personally, I would not use the ship's shared terminals to access any of my financial accounts or email. I always bring my laptop.

Well, although I use the ship terminals I haven't used them for financial accounts. But aren't the ship terminals just as secure (or insecure) as using a laptop and the ship WiFi?

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I would not use the shared terminals either. Yes they should be as secure as your own.

 

With that said, I find that it is more efficient and private to use my own computer.

 

 

I keep the web sites bookmarked which would not be the case with a shared computer. It is more convenient to use it from my room. I just don't have to be concerned with anyone looking over my shoulder and to me it is a much better experience viewing them from my room.

 

 

I can keep all sorts of information on my own computer about the trip and about anything at home.

 

 

Keith

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Similar to Keith, I have bookmarks to expedite logging on and prefer the privacy of working in the cabin.

 

Haven't used the ship's terminals for a while, but I suspect they may even used wired connections rather than wifi. However, with wifi, I am not overly concerned with potential security issues, of others getting my signals, due to limited propagation of the signals on a ship. Aboard ship, when logging onto the ship's wifi, you will most likely find significantly less signals available than what you will find at home, or at a free hotspot. Basically, on a ship your wifi signal has a much smaller footprint than on shore.

 

By keeping my laptop security settings in place and all updates/patches installed, I am very comfortable with using my own laptop.

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Andy & Judi, and Keith:

Thanks for your ideas.

 

We usually only check email using ship terminals when cruising.

Particularly useful points you made:

 

Physical privacy with laptop in cabin is better than ship terminals with people around.

Other WiFi networks within range on a ship are less likely on a ship than ashore.

There is some degree of risk to travel without checking financial accounts.

A lot to think about !

 

Tom

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Tom, we take our computer on all cruises regardless of length but on a world cruise I highly recommend it.

 

 

I just feel it is important to review account regularly and we also make use of it for so many other things including e-mail face time and or whatsap, backing up photos and the like.

 

Keith

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Totally agree with Keith, I couldn't survive without my laptop.

 

In addition to managing finances/email/news, I use it for managing, touching up and backing up photos. I carry a number of 2TB portable hard drives, so all photos reside on the laptop & portable hard drive, then get copied when I get home to a larger mirrored drive.

 

Similar to Keith, I also maintain a travel blog, so the laptop is essential.

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I had my credit card compromised. It was a pain in the neck to change seven automatic payments to the new card, would have been much worse had I been in the middle of the Pacific. Be prepared with account numbers, user names, passwords and contact numbers, and a second or third credit card.

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Was it compromised by someone on the ship you were cruising on?

No. Sorry I wasn't clear, happened while I was at home. I was well prepared with a folder for all my automatic payments, it was still a nuisance to make the changes. Glad I wasn't spending my cruise time and internet minutes on the project.

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This is another example of the benefit of monitoring your credit cards while away and having backup plans.

 

 

For credit cards always have a few go to cards that you can use.

 

 

 

Also, if you use a specific credit card to charge recurring bills then only use it for that purpose. Don't use it for purchases in stores, hotels, restaurants, etc. It won't guarantee that it won't be compromised but the chance much lower. I say this because if that one is the one that is compromised while you can update most accounts to reflect a different card for paying those recurring bills there might be some instances where you have to contact the vendor directly with the new credit card information which can be time consuming and more of a challenge when not at home.

 

 

Most of the fraud cases we have identified on our own by checking cards daily at home or when traveling. One time though we were on a ship and two different vendors caught it with one leaving us a message on our home phone before I actually caught it by looking at a pending charge.

 

 

Anyway this is why we check accounts daily.

 

 

Keith

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No. Sorry I wasn't clear, happened while I was at home.

OK, sorry it happened, but glad it wasn't on the cruise. I'm planning to have virtually all my bills on autopay through my bank so less hassle. Luckily I will have free unlimited internet on the cruise so if I do have to contact the bank I won't be worried about minutes.

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  • 1 month later...

I do virtually all my banking online, since we spent 5 months south in our second home. Not many bills are on automatic payment, just a few smaller ones. Everything else we have set up to pay online on a regular basis, and I keep on top of my accounts regularly online. I would take my laptop if we did a lengthy cruise. My virus protection provides a 'hardened browser' for banking, a stripped down browser that's more secure. Can't imagine that the ship is much less secure than my home, but thanks for the advice about checking general security settings.

 

So I can't see the need to do automated payments, any more than I do now.

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Also, if you use a specific credit card to charge recurring bills then only use it for that purpose. Don't use it for purchases in stores, hotels, restaurants, etc. It won't guarantee that it won't be compromised but the chance much lower...

Keith

Thanks for the excellent advice. I have switched to this method.

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