Summer is one of the busiest travel periods of the year, making it a paradise for criminals targeting high-profile individuals and a nightmare for your executive security team. Crowded airports, popular tourist destinations, and packed event schedules create ample opportunities for theft, fraud, and unwanted attention. However, with proper planning and professional security measures, your protection team can reduce these risks so you can travel with greater confidence.
Planning and preparing for a secure summer trip
A secure trip begins well before you leave home or the office. Careful planning helps you avoid unnecessary risks and enables your team to respond quickly if something unexpected happens.
Start by assessing your itinerary. Consider the security environment at your destination, planned accommodations, transportation routes, and any public appearances.
Ensure that your protection team takes the time to:
- Research destination-specific safety risks
- Confirm secure transportation in advance
- Review emergency contacts and local medical facilities
- Keep copies of passports, travel documents, and identification in a secure location
These preparations reduce the likelihood of travel disruptions and make it easier to respond to emergencies such as lost documents, civil unrest, or severe weather. With your itinerary set, be sure to share it only with trusted individuals, though if you are attending conferences or speaking engagements, assume that your schedule may become publicly known.
If you believe your role or public profile places you at elevated risk, your executive protection team should conduct advance site assessments and coordinate with local security providers before your arrival.
Keeping you and your property safe
Once your trip begins, ensuring your security and that of your property becomes more difficult. However, if your protection team stays aware and makes the right decisions, you can minimize risk without disrupting your travels.
Stay aware
Maintaining situational awareness is one of your strongest defenses. Summer crowds make it easier for criminals to blend in while targeting distracted travelers. Pickpocketing, luggage theft, hotel room burglaries, and opportunistic scams are much easier to do in places with high activity and large numbers of people. Therefore, these places are where your executive protection team must be at their highest level of readiness.
Fly under the radar
Avoid displaying expensive jewelry, luxury items, or confidential business materials in public, as these will quickly make you a target. Keep laptops, mobile devices, and important documents within your team’s control whenever possible, and never leave them unattended in vehicles or public areas.
Choose secure accommodations
When selecting accommodations, have your team research options thoroughly and choose reputable hotels with strong physical security measures. Request rooms away from the ground floor and avoid locations immediately adjacent to emergency exits or publicly accessible stairwells. This makes it much more difficult for intruders to infiltrate and exfiltrate, keeping you that much safer.
Stay informed
The security situation where you are traveling can change rapidly, especially if you are in high-risk areas. Instruct your executive protection team to monitor travel advisories and gather intelligence on your location so they can stay abreast of any changes in security risks. If you are traveling abroad and believe your risk to be especially high, consider contacting the local US embassy for guidance.
Don’t forget digital security
Physical security is only part of the equation. Summer travel also creates lucrative, relatively low-risk opportunities for cybercriminals looking to steal your valuable data or track your movements.
The last thing you want is for your security team to get distracted by digital threats and fail to deal with physical threats to your person. Fortunately, there are several simple and easy steps you can take to minimize digital risk and allow your team to focus on more critical threats.
- Never log into unsecured public networks, as this can expose business communications, login credentials, and confidential company data.
- Whenever possible, use trusted mobile data connections or a reputable virtual private network (VPN) when accessing business systems remotely.
- Do not charge devices through unknown public USB charging stations, because cybercriminals can use them to steal information or install malware, known as “juice jacking.”
- Post social media updates on a delay, or avoid posting entirely. If someone wishes you harm, you don’t want to give them real-time updates to your exact location.
If you want to have peace of mind and enjoy your summer trips, contact Aspis Protection Services. Our experienced executive protection team will ensure safe and smooth travels, even to high-risk areas.