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08.05.08 Protecting Your Laptop When Traveling  By Dan MorrillThe rules have finally been released about what can be sized at the US Border, and it is not pretty this morning. Functionally anything you take with you can be seized, copied and shared at the border, going in or coming out of the USA, here is what you can do to have your own copy of the data, and some other simple protection measures for business travelers. The first real idea is that if you don't absolutely need it don't take it. If you are traveling, and you do not need it to do your job or have a few moments of entertainment just don't bring it along. You don't need it, and if you love it, you don't want to lose it at the border for any reason. Your laptop Outward Bound - the Government can take your laptop and other electronic gear without probable cause outward bound to a country. Here are some of the things you can do to help your traveler out. Business travel - it is a good idea to understand that your laptop might be taken coming in or going out of the country. If you are going out, make sure that you have arrangements to replace your computer with local goods as soon as you land. Have all your data backed up on the corporate network, and have external access to the VPN software that the employee will need. Once there, make sure you stay in a hotel with decent bandwidth, and have technical support handy in case the traveler needs assistance in setting up a laptop. They should be traveling with a company laptop, get the agents names, date time of seizure, and a point of contact so that the company lawyer has someone to talk to so that the company can make an attempt to get the physical laptop back. Your Phone, IPod, flash drive, SSD drive/card, your mail, FedEx Packages, DHL packages, notes in your pocket, business cards, and everything else is also fair game to be seized at the border. Your company should have a standard package of business cards, spare cell phone that can be programmed with the person's regular cell phone, flash drives, SSD cards, and other gear that will be needed if their gear is seized at the border for out bound travelers. These packages should be sent via the US Post Office overnight to the hotel as FedEx and DHL mail is not "Considered mail" but the US Post Office is. These emergency care recovery packages can also include a disk to help set up the person's computer if it gets seized. Data - all data should be on a corporate network, and the traveler if having to replace gear with local purchases should be able to download that information once the VPN software has been downloaded. If possible, a script or other programmatic process should be used to download all the necessary corporate software to the new laptop. Coming back into the country
Business traveler - Your laptop or other electronic devices can be seized at the border with or without probable cause. Before leaving the country you are in, back up all your data to the corporate network, everything you can. If possible, your company should have a script you can run the night before you go to do this especially if your business traveler is not computer savvy enough to do this on their own. If they are traveling with a cell phone, Ipod, flash drives, ssd drives, and other storage mechanisms make sure those are backed up as well onto the corporate network. Personal information should also be backed up to the corporate network, if the traveler is using an IPod or Iphone authorized computer, that information is critical to the functioning of that device. The other interesting concern is that the Iphone/IPod will back itself up onto the traveler's computer, opening up all the shopping records, and account information that is stored in the ITunes store, for that local copy of the software. These changes are not going to be reflected on other authorized computers, so that data is important to keep. Other software programs might also store data in unusual places on the laptop outside of the "personal directory" or "home" directory of the computer. The script should look for files that have been dropped or critical software like the ITunes Store that stores data in places other than the home directory of the traveler. Continue reading this article. About the Author: Dan Morrill has been in the information security field for 18 years, both civilian and military, and is currently working on his Doctor of Management. Dan shares his insights on the important security issues of today through his blog, Managing Intellectual Property & IT Security, and is an active participant in the ITtoolbox blogging community. |
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