In my prior blog posts I have written about the importance of protecting your intellectual property.
In the case of a useful process, machine, article of manufacture or composition of matter, protection might involve obtaining a patent. In the case of computer software, text, a photograph, a book, a motion picture, a musical composition, a map, a dramatic work, artwork or graphics of some nature, although under U.S. law copyright is secured automatically upon creation, registration with the U.S. Copyright Office is necessary before an infringement suit may be brought in court. In the case of a product or service name, or other means used to identify a product or service and distinguish it from the products or services of others, registration of that trademark or service mark is prima facie evidence of the validity of that registered mark, the registrant’s ownership of that mark, and of the exclusive right to use that mark in the U.S. and, in addition, provides the remedy of suing for infringement in U.S. federal court. If you are seeking to protect a product formula, manufacturing process, customer or supplier lists, marketing plans, or computer code, by maintaining that information’s secrecy by various means, you can ensure their protection as trade secrets and obtain relief if that information is stolen. See my blog post at http://markscounsel.com/?p=6
But intellectual property, stored on your laptop, tablet or smartphone can be stolen in other ways, ways not easily redressed by a court. For example, you can simply lose or have that laptop, tablet or smartphone stolen. Encrypting sensitive information on those devices can protect that information. Also remember, your contact list on your phone can double as a customer, vendor or client list. Also, you should consider that using that phone or your laptop in other countries may carry other risks as well.
For example, in China and Russia it was reported in the New York Times last February 10th that digital espionage is a growing threat; there have been instances where the Chinese have installed key-logging software on visitors’ laptops which renders password protection useless. In addition, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections can be used to remotely access computing devices, which include smartphones, tablets and laptops. That New York Times article quoted a former counterintelligence official as stating, “If a company has significant intellectual property that the Chinese and Russians are interested in, and you go over there with mobile devices, your devices will get penetrated.” Chinese hackers have been known to access computing devices’ microphones and cameras remotely. In fact, an official of McAfee, the computer security company, was quoted in that article as stating that if any employee’s device was inspected at the Chinese border, it can never be plugged into that company’s network again.
A former F.B.I. agent is quoted in that same article as stating, “In most cases, companies don’t realize they’ve been burned until years later when a foreign competitor puts out their very same product-only they’re making it 30% cheaper.”
What things can you do to protect yourself? You can purchase a temporary cell phone for use abroad (Your contact list won’t be on it.) You can leave your laptop at home and buy a cheap one for the trip with no pre-existing data on it and erase the hard drive on it when you return. You can make sure to disable Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on your computing devices while abroad; don’t let your computing devices out of your sight, and don’t check your smartphone at meetings. Instead, disable it, by removing the battery, so it cannot be accessed. Avoid typing in a password or retrieve the password from a flash drive so it can’t be logged.
And consider this; if it is known that you are bringing important information into a country; it can be computer code, chemical or manufacturing technology, mining information or information about that country’s technology, officials, human rights groups or activists, press activities or policies, that country will have a substantial interest in learning what you know. Information about who you are and what you might know is no secret; it is publicly available on Google or you may have posted it yourself on Linked-In. Your travel plans are no secret either. To enter China you need a visa. “Whether you are traveling to or living in China, you must register with the police within 24 hours of your arrival in the country. Even foreigners with residence permits are required to register after each re-entry. If you are staying in a hotel, the staff will automatically register you.” See http://travel.state.gov I’m not suggesting that you search for bugs (the electronic kind) in your table lamp but…as for Russia, “Under Russian law, every foreign traveler must have a Russian-based sponsor, which could be a hotel, tour company, relative, employer, university, etc. Even if you obtained your visa through a travel agency in the United States, there is still a Russian legal entity whose name is indicated on your visa and who is considered to be your legal sponsor.” Also see http://travel.state.gov
