Protection tips for executive travelers.

• Author: Kaltenheuser, Skip
• Position: Business Briefs - Business travelers should follow several tips in order to protect confidential corporate information

With confidential corporate information more important than ever, security consultants offer travelers some solid advice that applies to both domestic and foreign travel.

John Nolan, chairman of Huntsville-based Phoenix Consulting Group and a former president of the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals, says, "Don't advertise your importance with a loud cell phone voice in an airplane, or show off your big screen laptop viewing sensitive documents. There are no expectations of privacy with your seatmate, and others around you probably have excellent hearing. No one in the next seat is obligated to say who they are working for as they listen, fascinated, to [you talking about] your job. At the end of the day, it's your job to protect your information, not the other guy's job to warn you about it."

Jim Thomas of J. Thomas Consulting Group in Monument, Colo., and K.J. Kuchta of Phoenix-based Forensics Consulting Solutions, strongly recommend devices that scramble and encrypt data in laptops, as well as provide firewalls against hackers. These devices are plentiful, cheap and effective. Kuchta also cautions not to use encryption that violates U.S. law. But there are quality encryption tools that conform to law and protect emails from monitored phone networks. Digital certificates, which must be exchanged before parties can communicate with each other, also make eavesdropping tougher.

Bill DeGenero, a principal with the competitive intelligence firm The Centre...