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Traveling with Technology

The risk of electronic devices being compromised increases when traveling internationally. Learn how you can reduce the risk with these precautions and tips.

GUIDELINES FOR INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL WITH TECHNOLOGY

Always use additional precautions when traveling internationally with electronic devices. International travel increases the likelihood that both personal and university-owned devices and data will be compromised.

The Santa Clara University Information Office (ISO) recommends the following baseline precautions to reduce the likelihood of device compromise. For questions about any of the recommendations listed here, please consult with the Information Security staff (iso@scu.edu).

Pre?Travel: What to Do Before Leaving on an International Trip:

  • Start preparing weeks before leaving for your trip.
  • Whenever possible, use loaner laptops and/or handheld devices while traveling.
    Take the computer, but leave your data behind. This reduces the likelihood of theft or compromise. Upon your return, the device can be wiped clean, reducing the risks of importing threats back into your home environment.
    • Check with Media Services for more information on loaner devices.
  • Encrypt all mobile devices that you are taking with you (computers, tablets, mobile phones, etc.) Check if the destination country has encryption import restrictions. Some countries (such as China, Israel, and Russia) have restrictions on the import and use of encryption tools without a license, or at all.
  • Do not store passwords or other credentials on the device
    • Reconfigure web browsers to not save passwords to prevent login credentials from being saved in the browser cache.
  • Leave sensitive data stored securely on SCU servers and access it remotely only via SCU’s Virtual Private Network (VPN) service. Plan in advance to install VPN, but it provides secure access to your data without physically transporting it. Test your VPN access from off-campus before leaving.
  • Make sure all operating systems and applications are updated and patched before leaving.
  • If you aren’t using a loaner computer, uninstall unused and unnecessary applications and turn off unneeded services on your computer. This minimizes potential attack vectors.
  • Ensure loaner devices have updated and patched operating systems and applications before leaving. Loaner devices should have minimal pre-installed applications for safe usage.
  • Do not accept any patches or updates while in foreign countries. Infected updates are a common attack vector.
  • Run at the lowest possible privilege level.
    • While traveling, do not use an administrator account as your primary user account. Running as a non-administrative user significantly mitigates malware and browser exploits, as your computer is less likely to allow software installations without administrative actions.
  • Only connect to known and trusted networks.
    • On all mobile devices, turn off "join wireless networks automatically." Manually select the specific network, confirming its name and origin with the provider. Turn off wireless and Bluetooth when not in use.
  • Keep track of credentials used while traveling.
    • Track the services you access. Change these passwords upon returning. Don’t use the same password for multiple services.

Post-Travel: What to Do When You Return to Campus After Traveling Internationally

  • Change passwords for all services accessed during your trip on a trusted computer.
    • Select strong, complex passwords. Do not reuse passwords across multiple services.
  • Restore devices to their pre-travel configuration. This includes all devices you took with you (computers, tablets, mobile phones, etc.).
    • Before reconnecting to campus systems, turn off any travel-specific services, apply any patches released during your absence, and scan any data brought back for malware.

Additional Tips and Advice

We strongly recommend using loaner devices as the risk of compromise while traveling internationally is high.

Jul 11, 2024