Travel Safe: Travel Smart, For Business Travel

By Kjell Lauvik

Travel Safe - Travel Smart for business travel provides specific advice against common threats faced by business travelers around the world. Conducting business is getting more and more complex as the security environment has also become more complex and globalized.

Threats such as organized crime, terrorism, an industrial espionage are very difficult to protect against without a deeper knowledge of security and personal safety. Travel Safe – Travel SmartTM for Business Travel is the most comprehensive book on travel security for business executives on the market today, will help you achieve this security.

A number of security professionals from around the world have provided input and reviews to this book, ensuring that the book can provide the latest and most comprehensive advice available. The information provided in the book is real-life, hands-on advice that will make your journey safer.

The Chapters include Vehicle Security, Hostage Taking, Surveillance, Terrorism, Identity Theft, and Industrial Espionage

The author is a Senior Training Officer for Security Management within the United Nations system. He has a military and private security background, and has since 1999 worked with United Nations operations. He has worked in more than 30 countries, including operations in Iran, Iraq, Kenya, Kosovo, Lebanon, Macedonia, Pakistan, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and Syria.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kjell Lauvik
• Release date: Jun 15, 2011
• ISBN: 9781458166760

Kjell Lauvik

The author has a degree in Emergency Planning & Management and 20 years of military and security experience from over 35 countries. He specializes in security training and Risk Management, and has written three books on travel security and security management.

Book preview

Travel Safe – Travel Smart

For Business Travel

Kjell E. Lauvik

Travel Safe - Travel Smart, For Business Travel,

Kjell E. Lauvik

Copyright 2011 by Kjell E. Lauvik,

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

Illustrated by: Lars Lauvik

Cover Design/Artwork: Image Copyright Stephen Coburn, 2008 Used under license from Shutterstock.com.

To Haakon.

You make your mother and I unbelievably happy. However, I owe you an apology; each page I have written and every security mission I have undertaken represents time spent away from you. For this I am sorry. Despite this, I get nothing but love and smiles from you when I return home. For this I thank you.

Acknowledgment

I would like by thanking the reader for taking an interest in security. The fact that you are reading this book means that you are a security conscious traveler.

I also wish to express my gratitude to my family and friends in Norway, of whom I see far too little. I promised after the previous book that I would visit more. I didn’t. Sorry.

I am grateful to my brother, Lars, who again found time in his extremely busy schedule to provide the illustrations for this book. Who said you could not get 25 hrs out of a day?

A final big thank you is directed to all those that have been involved in the making and editing of this book. I have received countless comments, corrections and suggestions that all contribute towards a better product. I could not have asked for a more diverse, experienced and professional group of people. They are:

Rachel Lauvik.

Rachel is my wife and patiently allowed me the time required to write this book as well. As with the first book in the series, she helped extensively with the language of the book. She has work experience from places such as Afghanistan, Sudan, Eritrea and Sierra Leone, to name a few.

Svante Yngrot.

Svante has an extensive military background. After he left the military he has worked in the security industry and with the International Red Cross (ICRC). He is currently a Senior Field Safety Advisor with United Nations and has lived and worked in places such as Bosnia, Uganda, Nepal, Chechnya and Congo, to name a few.

John Campbell MSc

As a boy soldier aged 15 John spent over 32 years in the army- mostly in the infantry - gaining operational experience in SE Asia, Middle East and Northern Ireland. His penultimate military post was that of a military observer where he became interested in relief work. This then took him to UNHCR and the Serb-Croat conflict, Somalia, Kenya, Rwanda, Kosovo and, finally, the Asia-Pacific region. He believes in an anecdotal method of imparting security skills – learning from mistakes and inculcating them to young aid workers, journalists, etc. He is now a freelance security consultant based in Malaysia.

Gisela Holmen Yngrot

Gisela is a Swedish MA graduate in Humanitarian Assistance with over 7 years of working experience with humanitarian assistance, early recovery and development projects in emergency, post-conflict areas and developing regions (Balkans, Baltic, and Africa). She has specialized in humanitarian assistance, gender and sexual based violence, counter human trafficking. Gisela has worked for Swedish Red Cross and IOM, and recently contracted by NRC as a camp management trainer in East Timor, Ethiopia, and Kenya.

In addition to the above, there were several colleagues who preferred not to be mentioned. I nevertheless thank you for your valuable input.

Travel Safe – Travel Smart

For Business Travel

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

Prepare to travel

Study your destination

Travel today

Travel to Emerging Markets

Flying

Awareness

CHAPTER 1 - PERSONAL SECURITY

What security can and can not do

The risk of doing business

Preparation

Security Awareness

Crime triangle

Reducing your vulnerability

Robbery

Networking

Corruption

Behavior

Corporate security programs

CHAPTER 2 - SURVEILLANCE

Why conduct surveillance?

Surveillance awareness

Surveillance stages

Forms of surveillance

Methods of electronic surveillance

Audio countermeasures

Searching for technical surveillance

Detecting physical surveillance

Detecting vehicle surveillance

Surveillance detection routes

Detecting surveillance on foot

Detecting surveillance in fixed locations

What to look for

What to do if under surveillance?

CHAPTER 3 - TERRORISM TODAY

Terrorism today

Economic jihad

Defining Terrorism

Types of Terrorism

One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter

What are the chances?

Terrorism Techniques and Tactics

Target Selection

Terrorist planning

Media attention

Spot the terrorist

Hi-jacking

Future of terrorism

Mail bombs

CHAPTER 4 - HOSTAGE

Am I kidnapped or taken hostage?

K&R Insurance

Duty of Care

Hostage motivation

Kidnapping as a business concept

Hostage Takers

Release

CHAPTER 5 - VEHICLE

The Driver

Vehicle selection

Vehicle armoring

Ambush

Attacked while driving

Route Planning

Safety in numbers

Equipment

Search

Carjacking

Defensive driving

Checkpoints

Theft from the car

Parking

CHAPTER 6 - MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS

What is Identity theft?

What are the chances?

Why is Identity Theft such a problem?

So, what information do they want?

How do they do it?

Why do they want it?

How to protect yourselves

Credit card protection

Prevent phishing

Unsecured networks

Protect your laptop

What if I become a victim?

The future of Identity Theft

Espionage vs. Corporate Intelligence

Trends in Proprietary Information Loss

The art of espionage

How serious is it?

Where does it happen?

Protect your laptop

The cycle of intelligence

Some common tactics

What can you do to protect yourself?

Introduction

"The superior man, when resting in safety, does not forget that danger may come. When in a state of security he does not forget the possibility of ruin. When all is orderly, he does not forget that disorder may come. Thus this person is not endangered, and his States and all their clans are preserved."

Confucius, (551 BC - 479 BC)

Business continues to globalize and become ever more competitive. With special attention to new, emerging, and sometimes dangerous markets, threats to business travelers are certain to increase in the future. In fact, most people that travel to conflict zones are not hardened ex-military, security personnel, or even humanitarian workers. They are business travelers; people with little or no training or qualification to survive in these environments. They travel for one reason; because there are real rewards to be made by operating in such emerging markets. However, these rewards can only be realized with a proper understanding of the security risks and the culture of business in the country. In these environments, the business traveler should have as many skills, knowledge, and training as possible before traveling.

Conducting business is becoming more complex as globalization has changed the way we do it. At the same time, the security environment has also become more complex and globalized. Threats such as organized crime, terrorism, and industrial espionage are very difficult to protect against without a deeper knowledge of security and personal safety. For this reason organizations should try to align security with business objectives, so that they go hand in hand. Because employees will be more exposed to threats, it is necessary that the companies they work for put in place additional support measures to ensure their employee’s safety to the highest degree possible.

To stay completely safe you would have to be on the sofa in the living room of your solidly built house, with an ambulance on speed dial 1 and a mattress on the floor in case you roll off the sofa. This is of course not possible; people must take some risks, but they should be calculated. Taking calculated risks is essential in everything we do, including business. If we only looked at what is dangerous, and not at the potential rewards, humankind would never have lit that first fire, boarded the first airplane, or traveled to the moon. Throughout this book we will provide advice so that you can make your own calculated choices.

Prepare to travel

Many people's best holiday experience comes when they have improvised and left on a short notice. This is not true for business trips, as these demand more thorough planning and attention to detail. Staying safe when traveling abroad to conduct business begins with proper preparation. With adequate planning and preparation, combined with a high level of awareness and low profile, you can avoid trouble in most parts of the world.

Once you know you have to go on a business trip, the first thing you need to do is to conduct a risk assessment to see whether any special precautions are necessary. If there are, how many and how they should be implemented should be considered, and ultimately whether the trip should take place at all. The risk assessment also needs to look at who is traveling, whether there have been incidences or threats against the corporation or individual in the past, and the likelihood of anything happening during this trip.

Preparation for travel, and any other basic travel precautions including flying, hotel security, use of public transportation, walking on the street, and health matters are extensively covered in the first book in this series; Travel Safe Travel Smart – A comprehensive Guide to Travel Security. It is highly recommended that the information from that book is reviewed prior to reading this book. There are, however, some precautions and preparations that are more relevant to business travelers than the general public, and these will be covered in depth in this book.

Do it yourself

Most business executives will have someone else arranging their travel details. The problem with having someone else booking your ticket for you is that many of the people making the reservations have never actually visited the country or city where you are going. This means that they do not have the full picture of the threats that are faced, and therefore cannot make a qualified choice on which hotel, or even which part of the city, to choose. This can only be found through research, or through briefings from specialized security agencies.

If you can, arrange with your hosts or counterparts in your destination to be met at the airport by a local driver or, preferably in higher risk environments a local security detail. Also make sure that there are no prior notices in the media for the upcoming visit, as it allows would-be thieves to plan ahead and maximize their opportunities.

Upon your arrival you should take every opportunity to talk to local people, and preferably people working with the company or government hosting you. Ask what the local situation is like, what to do if you are being harassed, if you are arrested, and so on. A good tip is to ask for the names of powerful local people, such as the police commander or mayor. Knowing these may be enough to get you out of trouble at a later stage.

Awareness

To fully appreciate why local crime sometimes thrives, you must be aware of the income levels of the local population. In many popular business destinations, such as the Philippines, Brazil, India, and Nigeria, the poverty level is over 40 to 50%, and even China has a registered poverty level of 10%. At all times, wherever you travel, you need to remember that business travelers are potential targets for criminals and terrorists alike.

It is well established that criminals will seek targets that are distracted or simply not paying attention to their environment. By adopting an awareness attitude, you stand a much better chance of not being selected as a victim. Likewise, stay away from alcohol and drugs, as both make you lose that little additional awareness that is needed to stay on top of a situation. If you do not know what is going on around you, there is not much you can do to ensure your safety.

As a result of the above, business travelers are seen in some communities as walking ATMs, as they tend to carry a lot of cash, credit cards and other valuables with them. Criminals will see you as only the temporary custodian of your laptop, watch, and wallet, until these items have rightfully been handed over to them. It is therefore necessary to tone down your appearance and blend in with people around you.

Travel today

Some companies are dependent on foreign business, so business travel is therefore an essential part of money making. As a result, travel is likely to remain high or increase in the future. The World Tourism Organization estimates that we conduct more than 135 million international business trips per year, and that this is likely to double by 2020. You should know that this is only international business travel, and does not count domestic travel (which in the United States alone accounts for over 250 million trips a year). In addition, 50 years ago fifteen countries received over 90% of all travelers, and it was almost entirely sun-seekers travelling to safe and stable countries. Today, people seek new challenges, and the number of travelers has multiplied from 50 million to 800 million.

Most of today’s 800 million travelers are not worried about their own safety, but rather are interested in low prices of accommodation and food, and proximity to sea and sun. It seems people would rather lose money from crime than pay too much for souvenirs. However, business travelers are different. Because business can take place in higher risk environments than those of tourism, additional precautions have to be made. And the world is not getting safer. United Nations statistics shows that in a three years period, there were 87 armed conflicts globally, and only three of those between nations. The rest were civil wars, insurgencies, or uprisings. These types of low intensity conflicts are much less predictable, and can therefore be much more dangerous. There are often no defined borders or safe areas. Furthermore, in 1915, there were 74 countries in the world, today there are approximately 200 (and counting). As more regions seek independence, the chaos and confusion caused by this is likely to continue to create dangerous environments. Add to that that and estimated 90% of casualties in today's conflicts are civilians and not combatants, and you understand how dangerous it is to travel in conflict zones.

Travel to Emerging Markets

Since the 1980s we have seen increasing investments in emerging markets, as the potential for financial gain is so great. The BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) are the most commonly known emerging markets. Especially China’s worldwide influence is growing, in particular in Latin America and Africa, as countries in these regions see it as a good economical alternative to the United States (US) and Europe.

The emerging markets often experience a middle class boom and increasing resentment (and crime opportunity) for the lower income levels. Fraud, corruption, and organized crime will likely be high, as the financial and political infrastructure is not mature enough to handle a rapid economical growth. And when there is a system failure, criminal elements will always be ready to take advantage.

Flying

Flying is safe. In fact, there are as many people killed per year from lightning than there are from airplane crashes. A study from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) of over 500 commercial airplane accidents between 1983 and 2000 showed that 96% of people survived the crashes. Flying is in fact getting so safe, that more people are injured by luggage accidentally falling out of the overhead compartment than in airplane crashes.

It does, of course, matter where you are flying to and from. According to the NTSB, 75% of airplane accidents happen in countries that only have 12% of the world’s aviation traffic. It is also significantly more risky to fly in smaller aircrafts (about four times more dangerous), as these fly lower, and take off and land more frequently. In addition, they are often operated by pilots with less experience than that of the major international airlines.

Study your destination

Absolute security is not possible anywhere, and there is simply not a one-size-fits-all approach to security that will work effectively. Your best security approach is to carefully study your destination, paying special interest in crime and cultural aspects. Remember that security threats will vary from region to region, and even from city to city, and that as a business traveler you need a good understanding of the exact place you are traveling to, including the customs of the local population. Each country or region has its own specific culture, so do not expect everything to be just like home.

Knowing what the trends are in the country you are going to visit will help you anticipate potential risks, threats, and crises that could impact your business plans. For example, Colombia is known for its high level of kidnapping, but the incidences of that are now decreasing. Instead, there are extremely violent street gangs (estimated at over 100,000 members) that now represent the highest risk. Even in China, there are new threats emerging towards the business community, including kidnapping for ransom, contract killings, and extortion. This is likely to continue as the gap between rich and poor remains substantial, but China is still seen as a safe country to do business in from a crime perspective. Only a deeper study of the country will provide you with the information that will keep you safe.

The available medical services at your destination will also be important. In a study made of travelers, 64% contracted some sort of illness while away (www.istm.org). This demands that medical planning rates high on your planning agenda, and should be included in the terms of reference if you use a company to provide country-specific briefings for you. These companies use specific methods to rate risks in a specific country. Such a risk rating is useful as an indicator, but you need a specialized briefing if you want to go deeper. Be aware that travel advisories issued by governments may be influenced by political considerations which may overstate the threat or, conversely, downplay it. When you make an assessment of a country, generally there are three pillars that will determine the stability of that country; Politics, Economics, and Security.

Politics

Under the category of politics you should try to determine the political stability of the country, but also how segments of local government work. Do politicians directly interfere with business? Is there a high level of corruption? Does the government show accountability at local levels?

Economics

The economy has probably been thoroughly vetted from a business perspective, but you should also look at it from a security perspective. Is inflation high? Is there a recession? Is there a lot of unemployment? Is there sufficient food security?

Security

Many of the emerging markets in the world have significant security challenges. In some places, such as Iraq, there is an outright war. Other places may have a problem with understaffed, undertrained, or corrupt law enforcement. Is there a history of violence against foreigners? What is the general crime level? It is estimated that globally, approximately 3% of all travelers have been victims of serious offences, ranging from currency scams to car theft, to robbery.

Make it safer

So how do you make business ventures safe now that you have obtained all this information? In essence, you mitigate as much of the risk as possible. Put in general terms, you should Plan, Manage, and Respond to the security situation.

Plan

First; make sure you have a thorough country assessment. This can be done in-house, or through a professional security service provider. The assessment should focus on security, but can include business intelligence. Based on this information you should conduct some contingency plans for the most likely threats so that you know what to do in case of a crisis.

Manage

You manage the security threats by implementing personal security measures. This can range from a personal security detail (bodyguards) to heightened security awareness.