Learn how the sins of gluttony, envy, pride, lust, greed, sloth and wrath can expose your company to significant data loss during travel abroad.

1. 7 Deadly Sins
of Business Travel:
How You Accidentally Expose
Intellectual Assets While on the Road

2. How dangerous could a business trip be?
When it comes to intellectual asset protection, plenty
dangerous. Learn how the sins of gluttony, envy, pride, lust,
greed, sloth and wrath have the potential to expose your
company to significant data loss during travel abroad.

3. Gluttony
When you over indulge, you open yourself up to risk, especially during
business travel to countries known for state-sponsored intellectual
property (IP) theft and other aggressive, competitive intelligence behavior.
AVOID:
• Carrying too many IP-addressable devices
• Succumbing to the siren song of public Wi-Fi; and
• Revealing too many details about work in public
places – you never know who might be listening.

4. eNVY
In order to be effective, a travel security policy must assume that competitors
and state actors want what you have – and they do. As incidents of
competitive intelligence and corporate espionage become more prevalent,
consider proactive measures beyond traditional IT security that elevate
the role of human behavior in defending trade secrets and IP.
USE HIGH-IMPACT, LOW-COST
SOLUTIONS, SUCH AS:
• Routine travel security training and awareness
programs that address vulnerabilities inherent in
taxicabs, airplanes and hotels; and
• Routine insider threat training and awareness
programs that point out warning signs typically
displayed by a deliberate or unintentional threat.

5. PRIDE
Hubris is the most serious of the deadly sins.
Are you proud of your individual accomplishments last quarter?
Are you impressed by your firm’s market disruption?
When you’re talking loudly on the phone in
the airline club lounge, you’re probably not
only aggravating those around you, but if
the wrong person is listening, your actions
could be as devastating to your firm as
flying too close to the sun on wax wings.

6. lust
It might sound like a Hollywood movie, but foreign and corporate spies
have been known to use romantic entanglements to steal secrets from
traveling executives. It happens more often than people think.
If you think you might find yourself in such a
scenario, remove yourself from the situation
immediately for the sake of your company’s
future (as well as your reputation).

7. greed
At hotel check-in, who wouldn’t be happy to hear about a surprise upgrade
to a deluxe suite? But don’t let your appetite for a better room blind you
to the fact that there might be an ulterior motive at play. In some hotels in
some countries, unsolicited upgrades are reserved for targeted travelers,
and the rooms are secretly outfitted with recording equipment in the
hopes of collecting valuable data about you and your firm.
If on business travel to Asia, for example, you’re
offered an upgrade, politely resist. If that isn’t
an option, keep your laptop with you at all times
(yes, even when you go to the gym), and limit
the work you do in your room.

8. sloth
Ignorance is no excuse. Failure to follow proper cyberhygiene leads to
major cyberlosses. Stick to your company’s security protocols whenever
you’re traveling, no matter the inconvenience.
If your firm doesn’t have a travel
policy, consider bringing the issue up
at the next executive meeting.

9. wrath
You come back to your room after a long meeting to find housekeepers inside,
even though you placed the “Do Not Disturb” sign on your door before you left.
Your bag is open with obvious signs it was rummaged through. Rage would be an
understandable, but dangerous reaction. Revealing that you’re mad might beget
even more scrutiny during the remainder of your stay.
INSTEAD:
• Stay cool, professional and polite;
• After the maids leave, keep vigilant throughout
the remainder of your stay; and
• Notify your IT department of a possible
compromise to sensitive intellectual assets.

10. Want to learn more about protecting
your intellectual assets on the road?
Get in touch:
TSC Advantage
(202) 629.1960
www.tscadvantage.com
@TSCAdvantage
TSC Advantage on LinkedIn
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