26.3 million mishandled bags in 2022: As a senior Business Leader, are you confident your employees know to keep work laptops or tablets safe during air travel?

1 Nov

According to SITA’s 2023 Baggage IT Insights report, the rate of mishandled luggage increased by 75% in 2022 compared to 2021, which is the highest rate since 2012. Some of the 26 million mishandled bags were either lost, damaged, or delayed.

Though the air travel industry claim they are improving baggage handling operations, the surprise surge of mishandled baggage should alarm senior business leaders like Board Directors, CEOs, and COOs and demonstrate the need to ensure employees understand that work laptops or tablets should always be with them at all times when traveling by air.

Why should senior Business Leader take note of the report? Too often senior Business Leaders see cyber security as internal issue mainly focusing on technology, relying heavily on their CIO or CTO to take care of it.

However, from my experience as an Information Security and Privacy Consultant performing audits and establishing and implementing information security strategies and programs, cyber security must also be considered outside of your organisation.

As laptops and tablets used for work are critical productivity tools for most organisation’s and often contain sensitive data or proprietary information, this report from SITA should emphasise the importance of always packing work laptops or tablets in cabin baggage, never check in luggage.

Mistake #1: Allowing work devices in check in luggage

The most critical and common mistake organisation’s make is allowing laptops or tablets used for work to be included in check in luggage. Imagine this: your employee is at the airport and discovers that their cabin bag that includes their laptop loaded with sensitive company data is too heavy, so they repack and move their laptop into their check in bag.

Fast forward to landing, and the employee discovers their check in bag is missing. Now that bag is one of the 26 million mishandled bags, what would be the impact for your business? Here’s what could happen and how your entire organisation could be put at risk:

Physical Damage – Baggage handlers and automated systems can inadvertently damage laptops. Even though some devices are built to withstand some wear and tear, the device lifespan can be shortened or the device rendered unusable altogether due to the rough handling from automated systems or baggage handlers. Remember, baggage handlers and automated systems are just there to ensure checked in bags are on the plane, and some collateral damage along the way cannot be avoided.
Data breaches – Checked bags are out of sight and control, making them vulnerable to theft or tampering whether domestic or international travel. Someone with criminal intent could easily swipe a laptop or tablet without too much effort as standard luggage cases aren’t too hard to break into. Now image your employee bag is returned and they open it to find the work laptop or tablet stolen.
Loss of Productivity – If luggage is delayed or lost, employees can’t work effectively, may be unable to meet deadlines or attend that important client meeting as they spend time trying to recover their checked in luggage.

Remember, checked in luggage gets opened, scanned, stacked, searched, smashed, and tossed around – fragile, expensive work laptops or tablets are not built for that kind of abuse!

Image from Nicole Kylie & Simple Flying Staff

Another hidden danger of air travel that has been reported many times is employees leaving laptops or tablets in airport security checkpoint bins only to realise once in the air or having landed that the device was missing or left behind due to distractions at the checkpoint.

Mistake #2: Lack of clear policies on laptop and tablet travel

Many organisation’s fail to establish and communicate clear policies regarding handling laptops and tablets while traveling, so here are a few best practices:

Engrave labels on employees laptops, tablets and work phones including company name, address and phone number and put some sort of identity sticker on the device. Having these details will make it easier for your employee to recover the device from the lost and found department of an airport or with airlines.
Ensure employees are aware they should put devices in the first bin at security checkpoints followed by the carry on bag in the final bin, behind all other items. That way, your employee will remove the loose items and not miss them as they wait for their carry on bag.
Encourage employees not to put devices in the seat pockets of an aeroplane unless their carry on bag had to be checked in. Putting devices in the seat pocket could result in leaving the device behind and sometimes these pockets are not cleaned well.
Laptops or tablets used for work must always be stored in carry on luggage, never checked in.
Provide your employees with appropriate carry on bags to help make security checks easy for them. Wheeled bags are perfect for safely transporting laptops without putting strain on your employee's back and most have dedicated compartments for devices for easy removal at security checkpoints.
Ensure devices used for work purposes have hard drive encryption enabled and can be remote swiped by the technical team.
Ensure employees are encouraged to backup data to cloud storage before any trips, so in an emergency situation they could purchase a new device and continue with work due to the data being available in the cloud.
PIN and password protect devices that will be taken on air travel.
If the travel for your employee is for work purpose, ensure travel insurance is taken out before their departure and that the insurance covers the work laptop or tablet.
Craft a travel policy that clearly communicates that work laptops or tablets must always be carried in carry on luggage and that it isn't negotiable.

Mistake #3: Neglect to properly educate employees on travel security

Simply having a policy and a employee guidebook outlining best practices is only as good as its implementation.

Actively educate employees by sending out reminders before their trips to enforce travel security practices, incorporate real-life scenarios into cyber safety training to make them engaging and memorable, and include device security in travel briefings to ensure everyone is on the same page.

Most important, ensure your employee knows what to do in the event the work laptop or tablet is stolen, damaged or lost and that they understand the organisation incident reporting procedure.

The Risks are Real!

The statistics addressed in the SITA report underscore the importance of keeping work laptops in carry-on baggage and considering there is still a risk of devices being stolen, lost or damaged.

So, the next time your employee takes a business trip or takes their work laptop or tablet on vacation with them if traveling by air, ensure they remember their work laptop or tablet is more than just a tool - it's a critical business asset that contains sensitive company data.

So as a senior Business leader, what security measures can your organisation take to ensure laptops or tablets used for work are secured during air travel?