Before diving into the details about the practicalities of the global security architecture, I want to start with why we’re writing these articles and what services they’re intended to provide. There are thousands of articles out there about how to travel and have fun but a lot fewer about how to travel smart and stay safe as well as shield your information. You can expect these blog posts to cover various topics related to security and are written to be practical guides for the most sophisticated reader whom comes from an intelligence background as well as for the novice business traveler.
I would argue that in many ways we are living in a more dangerous time than pre-9/11 and security should be priority one when planning domestic or international travel, even if it’s in a country that’s friendly towards the west. Don’t be lulled into complacency. Caution should always be exercised by the actual traveler as well as the person in charge of creating the itinerary. You should always assume you’re a target when abroad. Information and data are cheap, bad actors and terrorist organizations have become more sophisticated in technology and circumventing security measures – which is why it’s so important for you to be up on the latest techniques to keep you and your info safe.
Keeping Your Business Travelers Safe: What Employers Need to Know
When sending employees on business trips, it is the employer’s responsibility to keep them safe and be aware of their whereabouts. Business travel often includes trips to cities and regions that have security threats or crime that targets tourists and business travelers from the United States. Every company that participates in or sponsors business travel should always properly brief their employees and follow necessary safety protocols to ensure that their employees get to where they need to be seamlessly, and that their end destination is safe and secure. Many times, the travel that an executive will take is booked and planned by an administrative person, so it’s also important that these staffers at this level are also looped in on security procedures. With that training, they will know the standards and expectations involved in being a part of this travel plan operation. I always personally advocate the fact that you have to prepare for the unthinkable. It is important for companies to practice these scenarios for a hostage situation similar to a practice shooter drill that they facilitate in school systems.
Before Departure
Education:
Facilitating an education session with employees is crucial before their departure. It is your duty as an employer to inform any travelers about certain behaviors or appearances that might put them at risk. Threats will obviously vary depending on where in the world they are visiting, so it is important to tailor these sessions to whatever location they are going to. There are a ton of websites out there that can help you with this. However, there are general yet necessary tips that apply to any country, such as:
- Keeping a low profile. Warn your employees not to draw attention to yourself or get involved in any scene. Remain calm, polite, and avoid talking about where you’re coming from or where you’re going.
- Dress like the locals. Many countries dress more conservatively or professional than Americans typically do. Educate your employees on standard dress code depending on their location. Nothing says “I am American” like a baseball cap.
- Learn the local etiquette. This goes hand in hand with keeping a low profile. Not following standard societal norms will immediately make you stand out as a tourist who is unfamiliar with the environment, thus putting you at risk.
- Conversational. In addition to learning the local etiquette, learn how to be conversational with the locals. Learn the right way to ask for common things as well as general responses and pleasantries. This will help you blend in a little more and enable you to come off as a more experienced traveler in that area.
- Stay up to date on the political climate. Brief your employees about what is currently happening in the socio-political environment at their destination. While these topics are often complex and multi-faceted, giving them a general understanding will play a crucial role in their decision making while abroad.
Selecting Accommodations:
When conducting business travel, you should be taking extra precautions in order to select safe and reliable accommodation. Obviously doing research on the location and reading reviews is important in order to get an idea of how safe the hotel and its surrounding area might be, but there are other steps businesses and travelers oftentimes skip that can ensure that your lodging is safe. You should contact the hotel and ask to speak to a security manager — it’s a red flag if they do not have one. Don’t be afraid to ask about who provides their security: is it in-house or is it from a third-party subcontractor? What type of surveillance devices do they use? If you are still in doubt, contacting a local U.S. embassy office or other business partners for a recommendation is a good idea.
While Abroad
Perhaps the greatest responsibility as an employer with travelers abroad is to keep tabs on where your employees are and making sure that they are safe while they’re on the go. In a world where we are almost always connected, we become reliable on our phones to help us navigate and make decisions when we travel. Companies should always either provide a company phone that has worldwide phone service, or should provide employees with an unlocked SIM card that they can use while abroad. This should be tested to make sure that they work and can connect to local phone towers before departure. You should also consider getting a brand new SIM card – that’s a higher level of security for your phone’s info and data.
Enabling a system to help businesses connect with their employees abroad is crucial in the case of an emergency when that feature is activated, which is why it’s very important to understand how the app works before you need to even use it. When a user intentionally makes their location and status known, Kinetic Global allows security officers to monitor the whereabouts of their business travelers and send them security notifications based on their location in relation to any security threats, which can be pinpointed to as little as four feet. It’s important to know that we can’t just track your employees with just the app – that would be too ‘big brother’ – a user has to make that option visible. We urge users to not instill a false sense of security by thinking that by just having the app, we can find someone anywhere in the world. It doesn’t work like that.
With the app, we closely monitoring threats like crime, terrorism, protests, disasters, cybersecurity, and more, the system can keep close tabs on any threatening activity nearby and notify anyone abroad about what is happening and what they can do to stay safe. Although briefing your employees on emergency preparedness is incredibly important, in the moment of crisis many people panic, which is why it is strongly recommended to invest in a company like Kinetic Global that is equipped globally to instantaneously do the thinking for you.
While the idea of “tracking” is a turn-off to many, it can actually save your employees’ lives. Human trafficking is the third largest international crime industry (behind illegal drugs and arms trafficking). It’s a $32 billion-a-year industry and $15.5 billion profit of that is made in industrialized countries (source). You and your company don’t have to monitor your employees’ every move; Kinetic Global’s intuitive system will allow you to view any suspicious activity and provide you with the intelligence and resources to jump into action if anything goes wrong.
For more information on Kinetic Global and how it can assist and protect your employees abroad, please visit www.kineticglobal.com
