I am going to travel to China, where I hear hacking of iphones is prevalent. I'm trying to see what the best way to manage that is. If I keep the ipad in airplane mode would that do the trick?
iPad Air, iOS 9.0.2
No.
To avoid having your iPad hacked, make sure to setup a passcode.
The danger to tourists in China and Russia is not someone hacking the device remotely (which cannot be done on an iOS device), but hacking your online sites and personal information. That is, the risk is people stealing information over unsecured wifi connections primarily - literally intercepting user id and password strings from the airwaves over unsecured wifi.
So, don't login to remote sites over open, unsecured public wifi nodes, and don't type passwords and things at the keyboard in public where someone may observe your keystrokes.
As far as securing your device, my suggestion is to use fingerprint ID and set a strong passcode (NOT a simple 4 or 6 digit passcode, but an 8-12 alphanumeric one with at least one special character thrown in). Also be sure to enable find my iPhone so you've enabled activation lock and can at least remote wipe it if lost or stolen. Better yet, enable automatic wiping after 10 failed passcode attempts so if anyone gets it and tries to guess your passcode, they'll just wipe the device clear (and activation lock will ensure they cannot do anything with if after that as well).
Thanks so much!!! I do have touch id and a 10 character passcode, I will do the rest as well. So if I get a data plan from AT&T, for example, will going over the cell network with wifi turned off be okay, or should I avoid that in general and turn off anything that might automatically try to login in while over there?
It is certainly easier to sniff packets over a wifi connection than a cellular phone connection. I'd think your safest method would be use cellular data. If using wifi, stick to at least closed networks that require some sort of login (e.g. A hotel's wifi - while not 100% guaranteed secure, it is far more likely to be safe relative to any wide open public wifi nodes). The practice of packet sniffing at public wifi nodes in certain countries is known to be rampant.
Also, for any site that offers its own app (e.g. A bank with it's own app versus its web site) use the app and not the web site. All the USA banks that offer banking apps, those apps use encrypted connections at all times, regardless of how you are connecting.
If I keep my ipad in airplane mode, will that prevent hackers from accessing?
