IMG GlobalSecur

GlobalSecur Travel Security, WorldWide Travel Security, Business Travel Safety

Call (877) 887-9914 for your Consult

Blog

A Business Travel Policy…Extra Protection for Employee Travel Security

by

Borders are re-opening and travel is resuming. How prepared is your organization? The last few months have proven challenging for companies where employee travel was a routine part of business operations. COVID-19 has forced many organizations to re-evaluate and re-define what is “essential.” Business travel (as well as overall employee travel security) is one area that has required additional scrutiny.

This recent article from Business Travel News offers insight into business travel policy, which can help organizations better protect themselves as well as their employees.

A Business Travel Policy...Extra Protection for Employee Travel SecurityPerhaps most noteworthy in this article is its reference to “duty of care.” If your company is resuming business travel at any level, any travel deemed “essential” should be accompanied by travel policy that focuses on your duty of care. How that is defined will likely differ between organizations, just as the definition of essential travel will vary. Policymakers should consider evaluating organizational travel needs and asking what, if any, additional COVID-specific measures may be necessary to meet their duty of care.

Just as the definition of “essential” may need periodic adjustment, what constitutes “duty of care” may also change. The fluid nature of COVID has required careful monitoring of rising and declining case numbers in various countries, states and territories. As the author points out, there is more at stake presently than simply whether or not a destination is open for travel. Allowing a spectrum of options for employees can help substantially bolster their safety upon resuming business travel. Changes such as allowing direct flights, which may be more costly, to providing an extra layer of travel safety options can all help satisfy a changing duty of care.

Consider how your travel security policies can best support duty of care obligations in the context of current events. Open discussion about additional policy may ultimately lead to no changes, but those discussions may open to the door to general employee travel security enhancements.

IMG GlobalSecur Employee Travel Security Services

IMG GlobalSecur has decades of experience in the security industry. Our team of safety experts stands ready to help you alleviate travel fears with our corporate travel security services including executive travel security expertise and more. In addition, our FoneTrac safety app backed with 24/7 on-call security professionals can assist you in staying safe while away from home or office. Contact us today!

Flexibility is Key for Business Travel, say Employee Travel Security Experts

by

A Human Resources executive recently posed a question about navigating employee travel with lingering concerns about the spread of COVID-19. State by state, country by country, business travel is beginning to resume, although in most places it is limited to travel considered essential. This HR executive was concerned about ways the company could support employees while thinking forward about what kinds of risk and liability could come from required travel. COVID-19 has opened a Pandora’s Box of risks for employee travel security that a great many organizations have not, in the past, explored in-depth.

When is the right time to put employees back on the road or air?

Flexibility is Key for Business Travel, say Employee Travel Security ExpertsThere are no easy answers as travel resumes, but there are a few things companies should keep in mind. Aside from a general travel safety plan that can accommodate a wide range of employee needs, one of the key elements to successful navigation of this issue is already proving to be flexibility. For example, if remote work is not possible and employees must travel for their jobs, are there options available that might help them feel safer, and are they empowered to make those choices? For example, if they need to engage in domestic travel, are they able to choose whether to fly or drive? This recent article offers some valuable information that can help them make more informed decisions: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/05/30/865340134/coronavirus-faqs-is-it-safer-to-fly-or-drive-is-air-conditioning-a-threat

Is your company able to make reasonable accommodations for employees who may have specific concerns about travel? Mandatory travel for jobs before the pandemic may need to adapt in order to address potential health and safety concerns. An immunocompromised employee, as an example, may not be able to resume business travel alongside other employees who do not share similar health concerns. Or, if they do, what reasonable accommodations may need to be provided? Some companies have strict travel parameters that must be adhered to when travel is booked: lowest fares, lowest cost rental vehicles, preferred hotels, even mandated use of ride share services to save on travel costs. Are policies and parameters able to flex to accommodate various employee health concerns?

All business travel can be accompanied by some risk. Not all risks can be anticipated and mitigated, but when it comes to employee travel safety, preparedness matters. The most important work companies can do right now, before the world re-opens entirely, is re-evaluate their “new normals” for all traveling employees. Because situations can be fluid when business travelers are on the road, it’s important to have options for emergency evacuations, local medical support and simple, rapid communication. As a society, we don’t know what we don’t know yet when it comes to the spread of COVID-19, but what we, the experts, know from experience is that there’s no such thing as too much planning when it comes to employee travel security.

IMG GlobalSecur Employee Travel Security Services

IMG GlobalSecur has decades of experience in the security industry. Our team of safety experts stands ready to help you alleviate travel fears with our corporate travel security services including executive travel security expertise and more. In addition, our FoneTrac safety app backed with 24/7 on-call security professionals can assist you in staying safe while away from home or office. Contact us today!

Experts Say to Re-evaluate your 2020 Employee Travel Security Program

by

What we’ve learned so far in 2020 is that things can change from one moment to the next in ways that resonate around the globe. In a matter of days, the spread of COVID-19 had entire countries shutting down their borders and local states and territories issuing mandatory stay-at-home orders for any reason considered non-essential. Even now, as borders begin to reopen, the impact of this pandemic on employee travel security and business travel has still not been completely quantified.

This recent update on re-openings will probably continue to change and expand daily but it’s a positive sign for businesses whose operations require international travel: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ceciliarodriguez/2020/06/12/europe-open-for-travel-now-/#56f09f5925af

Experts Say to Re-evaluate your 2020 Employee Travel Security ProgramFor a number of companies, business travel stopped entirely for a period of time. Organizations have scrambled to find short-term remote solutions. Now that travel is resuming it’s a good time to look at your emergency planning and ask how you can support your essential business travelers and help alleviate any fears they may have about their safety.

Consider a review of your travel program with an eye on travel safety in general. If you are sending employees to countries where coronavirus has been a concern, for example, do you have defined ways to assist them in the event they fall ill in a foreign city? Have you thought about pre-arranging secure transportation for them in higher-risk areas? Do you require them to follow certain practices during or quarantine after they travel? These are but a few of the new travel safety concerns businesses must consider in order to avoid sending their employees into potentially risky situations.

Recent civil unrest in the United States has added another layer of potential risk to business travelers. The widespread shutdowns and effect on various cities should get you thinking about what pre-travel intelligence might help keep your employees out of harm’s way. Does your company monitor global events and actively reach out to traveling employees in the event they are in an area where civil unrest is predicted or ongoing? Do you have resources in place to assist them if they suddenly need to leave an area?

As you consider your approach to employee travel security during this critical time, we urge to remember that your people are your greatest assets. As experts in travel safety, we encourage organizations to put their people first and ensure they are prepared for the safest travels possible as we move forward, together as one business community, in these new and constantly changing times.

IMG GlobalSecur Employee Travel Security Services

IMG GlobalSecur has decades of experience in the security industry. Our team of safety experts stands ready to help you alleviate travel fears with our corporate travel security services including executive travel security expertise and more. In addition, our FoneTrac safety app backed with 24/7 on-call security professionals can assist you in staying safe while away from home or office. Contact us today!

When Peak Performance Gets Risky: Mixing Business & Personal Travel

by

A recent Security Magazine article entitled “Business Travel is Tough on Mental Health” shared some survey results about business travel and burnout. One surprise statistic from the survey? More than twenty percent of respondents would consider switching jobs if another company offered “bleisure” travel. Yes, corporations need to consider the importance of employee travel security. Companies would do well to build a culture that encourages mental and physical well-being for their associates.

Mix business and leisure travel while still ensuring employee travel securityA growing number of employees each year is adding leisure travel to business trips in an effort to reduce stress and burnout. It’s pretty clear that happy employees are more productive ones. As the Security Magazine article points out, a significant number of the surveyed employees struggled with varying aspects of business travel. It seems like a fairly benign solution to allow employees the freedom to add some self-care and entertainment into their business travel if it helps keep them happier…right?

According to Relocation Magazine, “bleisure” travel makes a great recruitment tool. It’s a benefit that can help companies attract and retain talent. Along with that, though, comes a duty of care, as in who owns the liability? What happens if your employee heads off to foreign lands, for example, and takes off some (permissible-bleisure) time for a tour? If the employee chooses a mountaintop hike and gets injured, is your company liable for the injury? Let’s say your employee prefers a tour that includes stops at a half-dozen wineries. If your employee gets drunk and harms someone else, could your company be held responsible?

Supporting the safety of your business travelers matters when it comes to duty of care. Business travel can be risky enough, but when you throw leisure travel into the mix? Any company that offers “bleisure” as a perk should be prepared for just about any emergency. That means clearly defined travel policies that address expectations surrounding the inclusion of leisure activities. It’s also a good idea to understand potential financial liability for injuries or accidents related to those activities. By far the most important element of “bleisure” preparedness should be employee travel security and safety. A robust travel security program and supportive technology can help employees have safer, more enjoyable travels while mixing pleasure into their business. It’s already considered a perk, so why not add safer “bleisure” travels as a greater benefit to your employees?

IMG GlobalSecur Employee Travel Security Services

IMG GlobalSecur has decades of experience in the security industry. Our team of safety experts stands ready to help you alleviate travel fears with our corporate travel security services including executive travel security expertise and employee medical assistance. In addition, our FoneTrac safety app backed with 24/7 on-call security professionals can assist you in staying safe while away from home or office. Contact us today!

Cybersecurity Worries? Our Exclusive Interview with Richard McKee

by

Your personal safety is important when you travel, but how much do you think about your personal identifiers? Those need protection as much as you do, says Richard McKee, a cyber security professional with several decades of experience including law enforcement, national security, and the private sector. No matter what country you’re in, or even on domestic travel, you have to think beyond pickpockets and purse-snatching…because your phone can be a gold mine for thieves. IMG GlobalSecur, a leading provider of corporate travel security services, interviewed McKee about travel safety.

We hear all kinds of cybersecurity horror stories that occur when people are on the road.
What do we really need to know about mobile device security?
Cybersecurity Precautions and Corporate Travel Security Services for Safety: Our Exclusive Interview with Richard McKeeWell, we love our smart phones…which often contain a litany of personal data and for a lot of us, stored credentials. When we travel, that smart phone is often the only camera we take on our vacation. So for anyone who is reluctant to use a cheap “burner” phone, there are some things to consider. First, don’t plug your phone into any charging device you don’t own. Don’t use the stand at the airport, or the port in the base of the lamp in your hotel room. Use your own AC to USB charger. And if you have to use that USB port in the kiosk at the airport, make sure you use a USB data blocker. They are available online for about ten bucks…they attach to the end of your USB cable, and they block any attempts to read from or write to your device. You see that pop-up on your phone that says “Trust this computer?” Well, it’s because what you’ve plugged your phone into wants to exchange data with your phone. Do you really want all of your contact data downloaded into that rental car? You can prevent quite a bit by being careful about sharing…and that means guarding that connection carefully. In a worst-case scenario, if you’re traveling to any countries that are notorious for spying on visitors, I would say go ahead and get that cheap “burner” phone. The key is to understand the risk and take appropriate measures to safeguard your data.

So we’re in a foreign country, out seeing the sights, protecting our data, stopping for a beverage…are cyber cafes safe?
While in foreign countries it can be tempting to use cyber cafes to check your email, social media accounts, etc. Think about it – you’re typing in your username and password on a computer that you don’t own…one that dozens or even hundreds of people have used…they may have visited potentially malicious sites, or even installed malware. It’s a risk, so think carefully before you do it. If you absolutely have to use a shared computer like that for communications, I suggest creating a new, separate throwaway email account just for use while on travel…one that can’t connect anyone with the emails you got from your bank, your credit card company or anyone sending you any other sensitive information.

Why are cybersecurity experts wary of public WiFi? What do you know that we don’t?
Wherever you are, at home, in an airport or hotel, think about how you know what network you are really connected to. How do you know that is the coffee shop or hotel access point? Do you know if it’s encrypted? Most people don’t, which is why it’s a good idea to be cautious. Here’s what we know: there are a variety of attacks and exploits that hackers can use on WiFi. People who randomly connect to public networks can inadvertently make themselves vulnerable.

One of the best ways to make things more difficult for those bad guys is to use a VPN (Virtual Private Network). It can be used with your mobile device or with a laptop…The key is that let’s say you attach to your hotel’s WiFi. It builds an encrypted tunnel with the VPN that gets used before you go to your email, social media, or other sites. If you ever get the message “The name on the security certificate is invalid or does not match the name of the site” there is a possibility that your attempt to get at your email or other web site is being redirected through another server. That could be a proxy server, or it could be a somebody trying to perform a man-in-the-middle attack, and steal your credentials.

What else can we do to help protect our data from thieves?
If you have to use a public WiFi, be wary of the “always connect to” option. This will cause your device to remember name of that WiFi network. If it is not connected to any network, it will automatically attempt to call out to all of the stored network names in its memory. The bad guys can see that and then configure their malicious server to respond using that network name. Your device will automatically connect. When it does, all of your apps running in the background start trying to check in with the service.

Any tips for our travelers about safe social media usage?
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, take your pick. People tend to want to post everything for the world to see. I say wait until you get home to post all those pics of your travels to that exotic place. Also, your social media account should not be visible to anybody that you don’t specifically authorize. A common scam we’ve seen is that when you are abroad, posting online, the bad guys will contact your friends. They’ll say there’s been a terrible accident, or you are in jail in whatever country you’re in. Many people actually fall for it. Most of us are not celebrities with a million followers on any given social media site, so don’t make your information visible to people you don’t know. Make sure that you enable multi-factor authentication on all your online accounts – email, social media, etc. If your credentials get compromised, it will at least try to require a code sent as a text message to your phone. If you use a burner phone, make sure you print out a temporary list of access codes. Also I suggest you use a different password for each social media account. I know that can be a pain, but ask yourself this: If your username for everything is your email address and then you use the same password, how much of your life can the bad guys take control of just through access to one account?

IMG GlobalSecur Corporate Travel Security Services

IMG GlobalSecur has decades of experience in the security industry. Our team of safety experts stands ready to help you alleviate travel fears with our corporate travel security services including executive travel security expertise, employee travel security advice and employee medical assistance. In addition, our FoneTrac safety app backed with 24/7 on-call security professionals can assist you in staying safe while away from home or office. Contact us today!