Summer is always the busiest travel season of the year, when airports get crowded, and hotel availability is spread thin. Countless travellers just want to head out for their vacation, while you are on a business trip, trying to maintain your usual travel routine. Work travel, or working remotely in any capacity, introduces its own combination of risks.
Why Business Travel Becomes Riskier During Peak Summer Season
When things get busy, small mistakes can snowball into bigger issues and anywhere travel is involved, this can be the case. Airports, rail hubs, and hotel lobbies fill with travellers, raising noise levels and creating congestion. Your devices often store sensitive company information, and in more crowded spaces, thieves may notice client data, company documents, or critical financial documents that can be stolen.
Social engineering thrives during busy travel periods, and when you’re tired and surrounded by uniforms, it’s easy to let your guard down. A stranger posing as airline staff might ask for your booking reference or email address. These details might seem harmless, but they can be used to build a convincing phishing attack later.
Travel traffic is also typically confusing to some degree as there’s always a sense of urgency. Bags can get misplaced or lost during connections or layovers, devices can get left at a charging station or forgotten at a security checkpoint, and when you are moving quickly between meetings or flights, little things can get overlooked. That could lead to putting personal or company property at risk.
The Risks Hidden in Public Wi-Fi
The free Wi-Fi that airports, hotels, and conference centres have is convenient and using it as a digital nomad or during business travel is almost unavoidable. However, open Wi-Fi is often unsecured. There’s the chance that other users may be able to monitor your traffic or view your credentials. Cybercriminals may even create entire fake networks with similar names to fool people at scale.
Accessing any sensitive system or secure platform while connected to these networks is a dice roll. If they aren’t secure enough, you could be risking the exposure of credentials or other important information. Knowing the risks, take additional steps to protect themselves when working outside the trusted office network.
Protect Your Devices in Busy Airports and Hotels
During business trips, it can often feel like you’re working harder than when you’re in the office. You might find yourself answering emails or reviewing documents while waiting for a flight, or joining a virtual meeting from the airport terminal.
Keep Your Devices Secure and Within Reach
Someone can steal an unattended smartphone or laptop in seconds. Always keep your device within reach. Ask if your company can issue a laptop with limited access to internal systems, which contain less sensitive data if lost or stolen.
Keep personal hotspot passwords strong and change them regularly, especially if you share your device’s hotspot with a colleague. Also, make sure you use a combination of security measures, like a fingerprint and a PIN, instead of just one.
Use a VPN to Protect Your Connection on Public Networks
Many professionals rely on additional cybersecurity tools when working outside the office. One common approach involves using encrypted connections to protect internet activity while travelling. A virtual private network creates a secure pathway between a device and the websites or services it accesses.
A VPN empowers your digital freedom by keeping all the data in transit encrypted while on public or under secured networks. Even if someone were to spy on your session, they couldn’t use any of the data because it’s encrypted.
Stay Organised and Back Up Your Files
Take the time to organise your documents ahead of time, so you aren’t digging through files later. Also, be mindful of where you’re discussing confidential or private work topics.
Prepare backups of important files or projects. At least one should be cloud-based, and one should be within your physical control. Enable remote wipe on your devices, so that if you lose them, you can still prevent anyone from accessing the data they contain.
Focus on Work While Travelling Safely
Summer business travel will be busy, and not every issue will be easily foreseen, so be sure you’ve prepared before you head out. Protect your devices, keep your awareness sharp, and always secure your connection before doing anything else. When you keep these habits at the front of your mind, they’ll help your busy travel seasons stay focused on getting work done, not recovering from disaster.
