Safeguarding Company Data While Traveling to High-Risk Countries

In today’s globalized business environment, international travel is often essential. However, traveling to countries with questionable cybersecurity practices or authoritarian regimes poses significant risks to company data. Executives, IT professionals, and employees must be aware of these threats and take proactive steps to protect sensitive information.

Device Seizure and Inspection

In some countries, border agents have the authority to inspect electronic devices without a warrant. This includes laptops, smartphones, and external drives. If your device is unencrypted, they can easily access emails, documents, and corporate credentials.

Surveillance and Espionage

Certain governments actively monitor foreign visitors, especially those in strategic industries. This can include:

• Network traffic interception
• Hotel Wi-Fi monitoring
• Hidden surveillance in accommodations or meeting rooms

Credential Harvesting

If you log into corporate systems without protection, attackers may intercept login credentials and gain access to sensitive systems.

Full-Disk Encryption

Encrypt all devices before travel. Tools like BitLocker (Windows), FileVault (macOS), or Linux LUKS ensure that even if a device is seized, the data remains inaccessible without the encryption key. For Windows devices consider Unlock Anywhere® as additional security layer to your encryption.

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

Enable MFA on all accounts—including email, VPN, and cloud services. This prevents unauthorized access even if passwords are compromised. For your Windows client security consider Unlock Anywhere® as password less authentication.

Use a Clean Travel Device

Consider using a “travel laptop” with minimal data and no direct access to sensitive systems. Store critical files in secure cloud storage and access them only when needed.

Secure Communications

Use a trusted VPN to encrypt internet traffic. Avoid public Wi-Fi unless absolutely necessary, and never access sensitive systems over unsecured networks.

Disable Auto-Connect Features

Turn off Bluetooth, Wi-Fi auto-connect, and file sharing to reduce exposure to rogue access points and nearby attackers.

Limit Data Access

Before traveling, remove unnecessary data from your devices. Access sensitive information only through secure, monitored channels.

Unlock Anywhere® offers a completely new, revolutionary option when traveling to high-risk countries. What are the most critical dangers of such a trip?

• Theft of the device at the airport – either by an opportunistic thief or a commissioned thief.
• Loss of the device during the flight – either because the luggage is lost or because it’s forgotten somewhere.
• Tampering with the device after check-in – even if this sounds unrealistic, specifically in high-risk countries, checked-in notebooks can be subjected to intrusion attempts or data extraction.
• Seizure of notebooks or tablets upon entry – often disguised as a security check, the notebook or tablet is confiscated by security personnel and examined for an extended period. Here, too, the dangers are the manipulation of hardware or software and data extraction.
• Commissioned theft of the notebook in the insecure third country – the device is either stolen from a locked hotel room or even taken from the owner in a targeted robbery.
• Evil Maid Attack, for example in a hotel room, when the employee is at an event or dinner – a third person, known in technical jargon as the “Evil Maid,” has physical access to the device multiple times, or to steal it — the hardware or software is manipulated to bypass encryption and authentication and extract data.
• Access by intelligence agencies and employee intimidation – this attack does not go unnoticed; the employee is pressured, for example, during interrogations and is forced to reveal access data and encryption passwords.

The security approach of Unlock Anywhere^® is simple but very effective:

1. The Unlock Anywhere® administrator temporarily locks the boot key and only unlocks it at the start of the workday in the insecure third country.
2. All attempted attacks, whether loss during transit, theft, access upon entry, an attack by an “Evil Maid,” or even access by intelligence agencies, can thus be effectively averted.
3. After their workday, when the employee personally supervises the device, they can independently trigger a temporary lock, for example, before going to an event or dinner and leaving the notebook in the hotel room.

The (temporary) lock of the Unlock Anywhere® boot key is an effective method to protect the confidential information on the device. By intentionally locking the boot key during the travel time and the employee’s leisure time, all access to the notebook is blocked, and different attackers are repelled.