Security may be the last thing on your mind during a hectic business trip, but you should always be aware of the possible risks to you and your data, says Felicity Cousins
Most of us drift through the practicalities of our business trips on autopilot, focused on the job in hand. But at a time when we are travelling more, and to less familiar destinations, perhaps we should be paying more attention to our own safety and the security of our belongings.
Stewart Harvey, client management director for HRG, a travel management company, says: “Because there’s been a recession, [some of our clients] have been saving money, but they have also been making redundancies. So although fewer people have been travelling, they have been on the road more often.”
The law of averages tells us that if we are exposed to risk more often, we are more likely to be a victim of a breach at some point. Even so, Sam Mostyn, training manager for Pilgrims Group, a security risk management company, says: “The last thing most business travellers are thinking about is their own security. Most people are thinking about the meeting they are heading to or whether their inbox is getting busy. [In training] I say: ‘I am the first person since your mother to be interested in your safety.’”
What’s more, not only are we travelling with greater frequency, but we are travelling to different and more unfamiliar destinations. Harvey says: “In the past year, clients have seen more opportunity in what they are categorising as ‘emerging markets’, and the growth of business we are seeing now is to Africa, the Middle East, the Far East and Latin America. The level of familiarity with these places is very different – some cities are vast, bigger than those in the US and Europe.”
Going into these emerging markets has meant that the security threat to the traveller has increased over the years. The growth of the web has also had an impact. David Freear, director of operations at Pilgrims Group, says: “Because of the internet and modern media, everyone can be an expert in whatever field they choose – from petty thieving right the way across all security aspects of crime, theft or how to make bombs.”
With all this in mind, it’s surprising that any of us get to collect our frequent flyer miles at all. But there is help out there to ensure you are prepared for every eventuality.
Be prepared
The introduction of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act of 2007 has meant that employers are paying extra attention to the welfare of their employees. It’s just as well – according to a survey by healthcare and security services provider International SOS, more than 3.5 million international trips were made by employees from around the world last year, a quarter of which were to high- or extreme-risk destinations.
International SOS has released a new white paper, Duty of Care of Employers for Protecting International Assignees, their Dependents and International Business Travellers, written by HR professor Lisbeth Claus. The document distils some of the more complex areas of the corporate manslaughter act, and provides help for individuals and companies to ensure they are covered. (Email [email protected] to request a copy of the white paper.)
While firms are ultimately responsible for staff, Travis Vincent, director of security services at International SOS, thinks individuals should take more care. “Employees have a personal responsibility too. They need to be medically fit to travel and should check their personal security needs,” he says.
Freear believes that preparing for the unexpected is the best way to protect yourself while travelling abroad. “You can read briefs and articles on the internet but you also need to do scenario-based practical training,” he says. “We go through situations from muggings to being taken hostage. If you know what to do, and you act quickly, and do the right things, you can stop [a situation] going into that spiral.”
Data protection
We’ve all smirked at the stupidity of undercover agents getting drunk and leaving laptops full of top-secret information in the back of a taxi, but the loss and theft of intellectual property is a real concern for anyone travelling on business.
HRG’s Harvey says: “For years, the advice has been ‘always be prepared, don’t walk down alleys’, but the main trend we’ve seen has moved from looking after yourself to looking after commercial and intellectual property.”
HRG advises its clients to tell travellers to keep laptops and mobile devices password-protected. Harvey says: “One client said some people had lost their Blackberry for the third or fourth time, but at least if there are passwords you mitigate some of the damage.”
Pilgrims Group’s training on dealing with muggings is aimed at diffusing situations and keeping data secure. Freear says that following the training, if you get mugged for your laptop at knifepoint, you will hopefully just give it away. The idea is that you will have backed up any data and your laptop will be password protected so you won’t have lost anything important.
Pilgrims’ Mostyn adds that business travellers should carry less information with them. “People travel with all their credit cards and things with their address on – we advise never to carry your driving licence [unless you have to hire a car] as it has your name, address, date of birth and signature all in one place.”
Harvey says: “People say they are concerned about data security but really they don’t know what they are doing – for example, sending credit card details in emails when it can easily be encrypted. A lot of our clients are looking for advice and want to know what other large companies are doing to protect their data.”
Data protection is not all about seeking professional help to defend against corporate espionage and fraud – there is an element of common sense, too. Imagine you are heading to pitch to a client and you discuss your strategy in the airport lounge. There is a good chance another company heading out to deliver the same pitch could be in earshot.
Harvey says that even on the plane you may not be safe. “Some of our clients have guidelines preventing employees from opening certain documents in public, or they have bought them laptops with special screens that you can only see when sitting directly in front of it.”
Social networking
It’s not just teenagers who are in danger of being duped by people on social networking sites. Freear at Pilgrims Group warns that the more senior you are, the higher your profile will be on the internet, and therefore the easier it will be to get information about you and your movements.
“Some of these people are quite scientific in their approach,” he says. “They will target you or your property from the information they can glean from your different online profiles.”
Harvey agrees that social networking can have its downsides, with people “twittering” and sharing information that may be detrimental to their company, but he believes some firms are too quick to shut off these sites.
“Some of these things are challenging accepted business practice but the [new generation of workers] see this as second nature,” he says. Recent surveys have suggested that teenagers spend an average of 31 hours a week online and send 10,000 texts a year. “Companies should accept the norm rather than resisting it. If they can harness it, they can gain control,” Harvey says.
Useful technology
Technology has advanced so far in the past few years that it is unlikely we will not be able to contact our colleagues or family when on a business trip. But tracking employees’ whereabouts is something risk management companies such as Control Risks, Red24, International SOS, the Anvil Group and Pilgrims Group still do.
Blue CRM, a technology company that creates software to help organisations offer more informed assistance to their business travellers, has worked with Midas Travel Management to develop a travel tracking application for phones. The app can be downloaded on to Blackberries, most Nokias, some HTCs and some Windows phones, but it is not compatible with iPhones. It works by transmitting signals back to a head office, where a traveller’s exact location can be seen.
William Parry managing director of Blue CRM, says: “The information is sent back to us as frequently as we demand – if I am travelling to Moscow I may want to send back [my whereabouts] once every four hours, whereas if I was in Kabul it might be every ten minutes.”
Blue CRM’s application monitors about 16 different variables for the traveller, including the time, longitude and latitude, and phone battery level. Parry says: “If you are running around on only 20 per cent battery power, we send a quick message saying you might want to charge your phone.”
The app also has a web-based travel service that allows a travel manager or the employee’s family to log on and see where they are. Blue CRM hopes to launch the app to the individual traveller by the end of this year, at a cost of about £1.50 per day.
Another useful piece of mobile technology has been developed by hotel booking company Hotelzon. Mobile 2.0 can be downloaded for free and allows users to search for, book, view and cancel their hotel room bookings anywhere and at any time – the information can then be seen in real time by their travel management company back home.
Jani Kaskinen, chief executive of Hotelzon, says: “If people miss their plane or need to make a change to a work trip, it’s easier to amend it via a mobile phone than a laptop, which you have to open up, check there is wireless connectivity, get out your credit card, and so on.”
Driving abroad
For many business travellers jumping in a hire car is second nature, but there are perils to driving abroad. In fact, Mostyn of Pilgrims Group says there are so many other things to think about when you are on a trip, other than foreign road rules and directions, that it’s not worth the risk. “We advise not to self-drive when abroad,” he says.
In a bid to give you the knowledge you need to navigate your way around foreign roads, National Car Rental launched its Drive Safe website, nationaldrivesafe.com, in 2006. The site has advice on driving in different countries and covers factors such as speed and alcohol limits, roundabout etiquette, the highway code, winter tyres, and in which countries it is compulsory to have a reflective jacket in the car (see “Rules of the road”, businesstraveller.com/archive/2009/september-2009).
It’s not just different traffic laws you need to watch out for, but scams – in Spain, for example, gangs of thieves have been known to let your tyres down to make you get out of the car, before jumping in and driving off with your belongings.
Neil Summerville, director of franchising in Europe, the Middle East and Asia for National Car Rental says: “Driving abroad does have its challenges. We want people to be aware but it’s a fine balance as to whether [or not] we frighten people.”
Staying alive
If you have to visit a place with a high security risk, it’s reassuring to know that the services provided by risk management companies – from tracking and rescuing to monitoring and sending alerts to people on the ground – will help to keep you safe in extreme situations. Unfortunately, acts of terrorism, natural disasters or pandemics can rarely be predicted.
Vincent at International SOS says: “Such situations will occur for ever more, but these days most people are more mindful of their own personal security and companies are more aware for their employees.”
Mostyn adds: “Terrorism is all about being one step ahead of the checks and systems in place. If you find yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time, it’s all about acting quickly – seconds can make all the difference.” Which makes it all the more important to stay alert on the road, even if your primary concern is getting to that meeting on time.
Visit bluecrm.co.uk, hotelzon.com, hrgworldwide.com, internationalsos.com, pilgrimsgroup.com
Keep covered
When a security incident occurs, apart from the hassle of missing flights and meetings, there is also the financial cost to deal with. Few insurance companies will cover travellers for cancellations and delays caused by security and terrorist alerts, but SDI (Security Delay Insurance), part of the Totally Insured Group, offers it as an add-on to your usual travel insurance. You can be covered for a security delay from £5 to £15 per trip.
Ron Moonesinghe, managing director of Totally Insured Group, says: “Our product is a purely luxury choice – if you don’t think you are going to be delayed, then don’t get it. We are addressing the fear because no one else has and things are never going to be the same as they were before 9/11. Our clients said they would rather pay £15 and not claim anything, than explain why they are paying £4,000.”
He adds: “Security is not about lunatics running around with machine guns. This is about when a granny leaves a hold-all unattended and the knock-on effect this causes, such as delays or cancellations.” The insurance does not cover industrial action. Visit securitydelayinsurance.com for further information.
