OAG Travel News

Welcome to the surveillance society.
 
Two-thirds of business travelers have eavesdropped on someone else’s confidential conversations; over a third have caught sight of sensitive documents or information on laptops, and more than 10 percent admit that they have been used this information for their own business  purposes, according to a survey of 1,000 frequent travelers in the United States and Britain.

The survey by the Regus Group, a provider of serviced offices and business lounges for travelers around the world. An ominous reminder of World War 11 posters warning that ‘Walls Have Ears.’

In these intrusive times, we have all become involuntary eavesdroppers – on fellow travelers ranting on cell-phones, or casting an inquisitive glance at a neighbor’s open briefcase or laptop screen.

And now reports that the U.S. government has plans to make random border searches of laptops, cell phones, PDAs and Blackberrys and copy or seize data has sent a chill through businesses and civil rights groups.

‘In today’s wired, networked and borderless world, one’s office no longer exists within four walls,’ says Susan Gurley, executive director of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives. ‘Rather, one’s office consists of a collection of mobile electronic devices, such as a laptop, a Blackberry, PDA and a cellphone.’

‘Many companies don’t realize the staggering problems people face on the road, and the lengths they go to find a place to work or to have a private conversation,’ says Kurt Mroncz, vice president, global sales at  Regus. ‘The survey shows that half of business travelers resort resorted to working in washrooms, bars and crowded restaurants, even park benches.’
Will Geddes, a security specialist, managing director of ICP Group (www.icpgroup.ltd.uk), offers the following security tips:

-Always have a password and pin number on your phone, so that it will automatically stop after a few minutes of nonuse. 

-Avoid discussing confidential matters over the phone in a public place – and use code-names for projects and people.

-Make sure that your Memory Stick for data storage is password protected. You can now get biometric Memory Sticks with thumbprint protection.

-Make sure the screen saver on your laptop goes into lock mode after five to 10 minutes, requiring you to enter the password for it to work again.

-Always delete text messages or e-mails on your phone or Blackberry, or get software to forward them to your e-mail back at the office. 

-Don’t take unnecessary things in your briefcase; only the stuff you really need for that trip; leave all personal things out. And keep documents in covered, unlabeled folders.

-Traveling without a laptop, you can access your office files by logging on to a service such as GoToMyPC (www.gotomypc.com) from any Internet-connected device – even a dumb terminal in a hotel lobby – and pick up work where you left off.  The connection is secure, and it feels as if you are sitting in front of your own PC. But you must keep your home computer on, at least in ‘sleep mode,’ while you are away. ‘I go into a VPN – virtual private network – to my office server remotely,’ Geddes says. ‘A lot of people in the financial services sector do this. It means I’m not holding anything locally, which is a potential risk, if I lose or break the laptop.’

-Consider having a separate laptop (and memory stick) that you use only for trips; and save documents on a memory stick rather than on the hard-drive.

-When flying, don’t put your laptop or documents in the overhead bin above you, but one diagonal to you. Then when  someone rummages in the locker, you can see what is happening. People have had laptops stolen from overhead in business-class cabins.
Safeguarding private data from Big Brother is rather more daunting. Our telephone conversations and e-mails are routinely ‘swept’ for certain key words or phrases, which may activate a closer surveillance.

New European Union and U.S. biometric passports carry embedded Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips.  This not only enables the authorities to check our whereabouts each time we pass unwittingly through a check-point.’ This puts travelers at risk of identity theft. The chips can be ‘read’ by anyone with a reader from up to 60 feet away in such places as airports, hotel lobbies, crowds and trains. Hackers could clone the RFID chip, if not the passport. 

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