It is far more effective to view international travel security as an onion than an apple. Although a humorous analogy, the layered barrier approach is a critical risk management strategy against potential hazard, with each layer representing a barrier between the target and potential threats. The outermost layers will be the most cost-effective, and the inner-most the more precise to countering specific risks in each situation. One must never fall onto a single measure of defense when seeking a balanced risk management strategy. The benefit of this layered approach is that no single security failure will result in an overall bypass of security.
There are many barriers that can be employed in a layered fashion to limit risk and provide distance against threats. We work hard for many corporations to protect their key employees and executives during international travel. In the instance of traveling, for example, here are some good todos:
- posting pre-travel destination data to close colleagues with a timetable;
- formulating counter-navigational routes;
- being aware of the current political climate security risks at the specific destination;
- and obtaining consultation on travel safety beforehand all establish real barriers of protection.
None of these are necessarily dependent on the others, but they all represent outermost barriers that diminish the risk of threat while traveling. As we get closer to the event, the barriers become more intimate. These may include avoiding predictable routines, controlling the unnecessary release of information, limiting profile clues (such as jewelry and clothing), noting points of ingress and egress at meeting locations, and being mindful of surveillance during point-to-point travel; all these things adding additional, specific security precautions beyond the more general measures taken pre-travel. The layered barrier approach is the most effective way of staying safe and limiting risk wherever life takes you and never relying on a single measure for safety.
If you are a corporate executive, or perhaps the manager who “plans” the trips and travel for corporate executives, we can help you with a conceptual approach to international travel security. Thinking about corporate and international travel security through a “level of security” approach means that we can work, together, at the “easy” outer layers and the more difficult internal layers. No security is perfect, but you can vastly improve your security hardness through some conceptual thinking and hard work. Call us today for a security assessment of the international travel security vulnerabilities of your business or corporation.