Information Protection Tips

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1. Avoid having confidential discussions in public spaces if their is a risk of being heard.
   
   

2. When flying don’t check your laptop with other luggage. Keep it as carry on luggage.
   
   

3. Before travelling remove unnecessary files and information from your laptop.
   
   

4. Instead of taking disks full of information copy only the information that you will need onto another disk and take the copy.
   
   

5. Do not assume that because the hotel room is locked that information left in it is safe.
   
   

6. Find out what information is confidential and what is not. People often give away confidential information assuming that it is in the public domain.
   Dispose of documents securely. Tearing them in half is not a secure disposal, which is how many confidential documents are disposed of in hotels.
   
   

7. At trade shows be on your guard about giving too much information about your products or processes. Intelligence experts estimate that on average one in 50 people at a trade show are there specifically to gather intelligence. Others will gather it if they can.
   
   

8. When in the bathroom, don’t leave your briefcase and laptop by the bathroom door or the stall door. These are favourite targets at airports, conventions and other places where travelling executives gather.
   
   

9. If you are dealing with confidential information, avoid using computer or facsimile equipment at foreign hotels.
   
   

10. Obtain security briefings or reports where possible.
    
    

11. You are not being paranoid to consider the possibility of bugging devices having been planted. For example it has been reported that some national airlines have been bugged by their national intelligence agencies, who passed on commercial secrets to companies in that country.
    
    

12. Stay as close to your laptop and briefcase as possible when it is X-rayed by airport security. A common scam is for one person ahead of you to hold up the line while another steals the laptop or briefcase.
    
    

13. Be on your guard against people who ask for too much information about your work. When their polite or healthy interest begins to resemble intelligence gathering you have probably already said too much.
    
    

14. Many people love their work and are only too happy to talk about it. Unfortunately this enthusiasm can lead to secrets being given away. Others can learn half the process from you and half from another workmate.
    
    

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