International Travel Tech & Security Guidelines

Overview

Due to enhanced security measures in most countries, travelers with tech should be prepared for possible disruptions or additional wait times during the screening process. Here are some steps you can take to help secure your devices and your privacy.

Details / Instructions

  1. Travel Abroad with a Loaner Laptop

    1. Faculty and staff members can use loaner laptops for trips up to a maximum of two weeks. Loaner devices can be requested from the Help Desk on SpiderTechNet.
    2. Loaner Laptop or iPad Request (Faculty and Staff Only) Request Form here.

  2. Wipe & Reimage Travel Devices

    1. Immediately upon return from the trip (prior to reconnecting to a UR or Spider Management network), wipe and re-image the devices taken on the trip. This ensures any unauthorized software installed while in the foreign country is removed. The Help Desk can assist with this along with the following instructions here.

  3. Access Secure Wi-Fi Connections

    1. Minimize access to sensitive data while travelling in the foreign country to only that absolutely required for your business trip. Ensure any access is performed over encrypted, authenticated sessions.
    2. If you are connecting to the VPN, ensure there are no prohibitions against the use of VPN in the region you are in. China and other countries have inconsistent rules regarding VPN usage. If you can use VPN, it is advised to use that whenever you are accessing sensitive data. 

  4. Backup Data & Factory Reset

    1. If loaner devices cannot be used, it is recommended you backup and then wipe (factory reset) and re-image the device prior to departure. Review all data you have saved locally to the device. Backup and then wipe any sensitive data on the device prior to departure. Please let us know if you need assistance with this. Additional information can be found here.
    2. If you cannot wipe the device, uninstall all applications with sensitive data (business, finance & personal), ensuring to remove all cached data on the device.

  5. Keep Your Devices Near

    1. Keep your devices with you at all times, if feasible. Leaving your devices unattended, even if in a locked hotel room, could allow for unauthorized access.

  6. Enable MFA

    1. Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all accounts that you need to access while travelling.
    2. The University of Richmond utilizes Duo MFA and encourages all students, faculty, and staff to enable MFA wherever possible to protect their sensitive data. To find out more about the use of Duo, please refer to the following SpiderTechNet resource link here.

  7. Hotel Safes & Technology

    1. Just like you would put your passport, jewelry, and money in a hotel safe, consider using that safe to hold your electronic devices when you are not carrying them with you. 

  8. Regulations & Legality

    1. Stay informed of TSA regulations. Be sure to check with the State Department's website, here,  for any travel alerts, or warnings, concerning the specific countries you plan to visit, including any tech restrictions. Also, clear your devices of any content that may be considered illegal or questionable in other countries, and verify whether the location you are traveling to has restrictions on encrypted digital content.

  9. Sign Out

    1. Sign-out or unlink all cloud storage and email accounts from your devices prior to leaving. This would include Box Drive, UR email in Outlook, personal Gmail in Outlook, One Drive, DropBox, etc.
    2. Only connect to those cloud services while securely connected to the UR VPN (or other trusted VPN) and using a browser interface.

    Voltage Matters

    1.  Just like there are different international plug types, different parts of the world use different voltages. Make sure that your technology devices can run on the voltage used at your destination. Getting shocked with 220V is not the same as 110V.

See Also

Protect Your Tech While Traveling

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