How do you assess cybersecurity risks for employees travelling abroad?

Assessing cybersecurity risks for employees travelling abroad requires a structured process that evaluates the sensitivity of data and devices employees carry, the cyber threat environment of the destination country, and the technical controls in place before departure. Organisations that treat travel cybersecurity as an extension of their broader duty of care consistently reduce exposure to data breaches, device compromise, and espionage. The questions below address each stage of that process, from identifying threats to responding when something goes wrong.

What are the biggest cybersecurity threats employees face when travelling abroad?

The biggest cybersecurity threats to travelling employees are unsecured public Wi-Fi networks, physical device theft, targeted surveillance, SIM-swapping attacks, and state-sponsored espionage in high-risk countries. These threats are not theoretical: they are well-documented risks that intensify the moment an employee crosses an international border with a corporate device.

Public Wi-Fi in airports, hotels, and conference centres is a primary attack vector. Adversaries can intercept unencrypted traffic or set up rogue access points that mimic legitimate networks. Employees who connect without a VPN expose login credentials, email content, and sensitive documents to interception.

Physical theft is equally significant. Laptops and smartphones stolen from hotel rooms or public spaces give adversaries direct access to corporate systems if devices are not encrypted and remotely wipeable. In some countries, border officials may compel employees to unlock devices for inspection, creating a legal and security grey area that organisations need to prepare for in advance.

State-sponsored threats represent the most sophisticated end of the risk spectrum. Intelligence services in certain countries actively target foreign business travellers to extract commercial, political, or technical information. This can involve hotel room intrusions, compromised charging stations, or malware installed through seemingly routine software update prompts.

How do you identify which employees and roles carry the highest cyber risk?

Employees who carry the highest cybersecurity risk during international travel are those with access to sensitive commercial data, intellectual property, government contracts, financial systems, or strategic decision-making authority. Role, destination, and the sensitivity of data accessed together determine the level of risk each individual represents.

A useful starting point is to map employees against three criteria. First, what data can they access? Senior executives, legal counsel, finance leads, and those working on mergers, contracts, or R&D carry significantly higher risk than employees whose access is limited to internal communications. Second, what devices do they carry? An employee with a personal phone connected to corporate email and no mobile device management policy has a different risk profile from one operating a fully managed, encrypted corporate device. Third, where are they travelling?

Organisations should also consider the indirect risk posed by employees who may not themselves hold sensitive data but who have privileged system access: IT administrators, for example. A compromised credential from a low-profile employee with administrative rights can create a far greater breach than targeting a senior executive directly.

Building a tiered risk register based on role, access level, and destination allows security teams to apply proportionate controls rather than applying blanket policies that either over-restrict low-risk travellers or under-protect high-risk ones.

What does a cybersecurity risk assessment for business travel actually include?

A cybersecurity risk assessment for business travel includes a review of destination-specific cyber threats, an audit of the devices and data the employee will carry, an evaluation of existing technical controls, and the identification of gaps that need to be closed before departure. It should result in a documented risk profile and a set of pre-travel actions.

In practice, the assessment covers several interconnected areas:

Destination threat intelligence: What is the known cyber threat environment in the country? Are there active state-sponsored espionage programmes targeting the employee’s sector?
Device audit: Are devices encrypted? Is remote wipe enabled? Are operating systems and applications fully patched? Is a VPN configured and tested?
Data minimisation review: Does the employee actually need access to all the data they can currently reach, or can access be temporarily restricted for the duration of the trip?
Access controls: Are multi-factor authentication (MFA) requirements enforced for all corporate systems? Are passwords strong and unique?
Behavioural briefing: Has the employee received guidance on what to do if a device is lost, stolen, or tampered with? Do they know not to use public charging points or connect to unsecured networks?
Incident response plan: Is there a clear escalation path if a cybersecurity incident occurs during travel?

The assessment should be proportionate to the risk level of the trip. A senior executive travelling to a high-risk country warrants a more thorough review than a routine trip to a low-risk destination. Aligning this process with a travel risk management framework ensures cyber considerations sit alongside physical and medical risks rather than being treated in isolation.

Which countries pose the greatest cybersecurity risk to travelling employees?

Countries that consistently pose the greatest cybersecurity risk to travelling employees are those with active state-sponsored cyber espionage programmes, mandatory device inspection laws, or known infrastructure for intercepting foreign communications. Destination risk is not static and should be assessed against current intelligence rather than historical reputation alone.

Broadly, high-risk destinations share several characteristics. They may have legal frameworks that require travellers to provide access to devices or decrypt data upon request from authorities. They may have documented histories of targeting foreign business travellers in specific sectors: energy, defence, pharmaceuticals, and technology are consistently cited in open-source threat reporting. They may also have limited rule of law protections that make recovering from a breach or theft more difficult.

Organisations should not rely solely on government travel advisories for cybersecurity risk, as these primarily address physical safety. Sector-specific threat intelligence, combined with country-level assessments from a risk management provider, gives a more accurate picture. A country considered physically safe for travel may still carry significant cyber risk for employees working in sensitive industries.

It is also worth noting that transit countries carry risk. An employee passing through a high-risk hub airport may face the same device inspection or interception risks as someone travelling to that country as a final destination.

What controls and protocols should be in place before an employee travels?

Before an employee travels internationally, organisations should have technical controls, policy requirements, and a pre-travel briefing process in place. The goal is to reduce the attack surface before the employee leaves, not to react after a device is compromised or data is lost.

Technical controls

Full-disk encryption enabled on all devices
Remote wipe capability configured and tested
VPN installed, tested, and mandatory for all corporate network access
Multi-factor authentication enforced across email, cloud storage, and internal systems
Software and operating systems patched to the latest version
Mobile device management (MDM) policies applied
Loaner or travel-specific devices issued for high-risk destinations where possible

Policy and process requirements

Pre-travel approval process that includes a cybersecurity check for high-risk destinations
Data minimisation: removing or restricting access to data not needed during the trip
Clear guidance on acceptable use of public Wi-Fi, charging stations, and third-party devices
A defined incident escalation path the employee can access from anywhere
A pre-departure briefing covering destination-specific cyber threats and behavioural guidance

For employees travelling to high-risk environments, some organisations also issue separate SIM cards or communication devices to reduce the risk of SIM-swapping or call interception on personal numbers. The principle across all controls is the same: reduce what can be accessed, reduce what can be intercepted, and ensure the employee knows exactly what to do if something goes wrong.

How should organisations respond to a cybersecurity incident during international travel?

When a cybersecurity incident occurs during international travel, organisations should immediately isolate the affected device, revoke access credentials, notify the security or IT team through a pre-established channel, and begin logging what data or systems may have been exposed. Speed of response directly limits the scope of damage.

The response process should be defined before the employee travels, not improvised during the incident. A clear escalation path removes uncertainty at the moment it matters most. Employees should know a single contact number or secure channel to use, what information to report, and what immediate actions to take on their own, such as powering down a device or disconnecting from a network.

Remotely revoking access is a critical step. If an employee’s credentials are compromised, every minute those credentials remain active is a window of exposure. IT teams should be able to act on a report from anywhere in the world, at any time of day, which requires 24/7 monitoring capability rather than a standard business-hours support model.

After containment, the organisation needs to assess what was accessed or exfiltrated, determine whether regulatory notification obligations apply (particularly under data protection legislation), and conduct a post-incident review to close the gap that allowed the incident to occur. Incidents during travel are also worth feeding back into the pre-travel risk assessment process: patterns across incidents reveal systemic weaknesses in controls or training.

How NGS supports cybersecurity risk management for travelling employees

Northcott Global Solutions integrates cybersecurity risk into its broader Security and Travel Risk Management (STRM) service, helping organisations protect employees before, during, and after international travel. Rather than treating cyber risk as a separate discipline, NGS addresses it as part of a complete duty of care framework aligned with ISO 31030.

For organisations managing employees in complex or high-risk environments, NGS provides:

Pre-travel risk assessments that include destination-specific cyber threat intelligence alongside physical and medical risk evaluation
Traveller briefings covering behavioural guidance on device use, network security, and incident escalation
24/7 monitoring through a UK Operations Centre, so incidents can be escalated and responded to at any hour
The Aurora platform for live tracking, itinerary management, and real-time communication with travelling employees
Cyber security consultancy as part of the broader STRM service, helping organisations build resilient policies and controls for mobile workforces

NGS holds ISO 27001 (information security management) and Cyber Essentials Plus certifications, providing independent assurance of its own information security standards. To discuss how NGS can strengthen your organisation’s approach to corporate travel cyber threats, contact the team directly on +44 207 183 8912 or at info@northcottglobalsolutions.com.

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