When Christians and missionaries travel to closed countries they have a lot to think about when it comes to online security. Digital security can be confusing and you might have a lot of questions like:
What’s the best password manager?
How can I keep the my information secret when traveling in a closed country?
What kind of VPN should I be using?
There are so many privacy tips out there, but few are geared towards missionaries. At BTJ we have been dealing with that reality for over 30 years and host a Hackers Conference every year with some of the top Christian hackers from around the world. Over the years, we have developed a few super simple security measures that are easy to do to help prepare for that trip.
There are so many privacy tips out there, and it all feels important, but trying to do everything at once can be overwhelming.
To make it easy, we are giving a few beginner tips with changes that are easy to make for anyone, regardless of computer or security experience.
- Passwords
Our lives are inundated with passwords, so to make it more simple, many people make the mistake of using passwords that are easy for hackers to figure out. Most hackers agree that people should NEVER use family names, birthdates, or street addresses for their passwords. Those are simply too common.
Other common passwords that are easy for governments to figure out are:
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123456789
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abc123
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qwerty
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iloveyou
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hello
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computer
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password123
And if you think that you are being cute by using fictional character like “Superman,” “Batman,” or “Joker” – you aren’t. Those are also common.
And for the love of everything that is good and holy – please do not use Christian words and numbers like John3:16 or JesuslovesU777. Those are too easy to figure out.
However, one idea that I use, that you can implement right away with very little effort can be to use lesser known verses and phrases from the Bible with a mix of your own patterns that can be easy for you to remember in what I call Bible Gibberish Code.
For example, 1 Kings 2:3 – And keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself.
Take main message from scripture and play with it in a way that you can remember from that verse that makes it special for you. For me, that verse says keep charge of the law of Moses, so my Bible Gibberish Code would be:
1K23:KeepCharge@M0$3$LAW
This is not fool proof, but it is easy to implement and would take several thousand attempts to crack this password.
- Switching Browser
Too many people use Google or Safari. A good alternative that I like to use are an alternation of Brave, Firefox, and Tor. These are easily installed and will not change your habits too much, but can make a big difference for people looking for all your surfing data in one place.
- Search Engines
When doing searches, try using DuckDuckGo instead of Google, or alternate between search engines and AI.
- Messaging Apps
This point, I can’t stress enough. Never send confidential information on communication apps – not by email, messenger – nothing. Whenever possible, work with people who know you and you can communicate with face-to-face.
When you do use messaging services, use apps that minimize data collection. I often use Threema, Telegram, and Signal. At the moment, Signal doesn’t collect user data and is the gold standard of end-to-end encryption.
Don’t use your private email for everything. Only use it for things that are important for you. For things that are not important, use ‘burner emails’ or emails that you can use for short time frames, then throw it away and get another.
- Travel Phone
If you are visiting a closed country like China, Iran, or Saudi Arabia and plan to meet with missionaries, I would seriously think about getting a second phone for travel. Traveling with a phone that you use every day can be a huge security risk, because of the information that might be saved on it from messaging, devotionals, social media, private apps, camera, etc.
Traveling with a second phone that is more ‘sanitized’ can be a great idea. That second phone should not be logged in to any social media accounts, should be clean of any compromising conversations, and should not have any photos that could get you or your contacts in trouble if it is checked at the border.
Leave your primary phone at home. Having a second phone will not do any good if you then travel with both phones.
- Use a VPN
A VPN helps to hide your browsing and information while traveling in closed nations. If you are traveling in China there is really only one VPN that works and that is the BTJ VPN. Unfortunately, the BTJ VPN is only available to BTJ GateKeepers right now. To learn more about how to get the BTJ VPN, click below:
One of the ONLY VPNs to Work in China Exclusively Available through BTJ
These seven security steps will not keep you 100% safe when traveling in closed nations, but they are very simple things that will not change your life too much and are not too difficult to implement.
