Financial advisors are familiar with the essentials of traditional travel: toothbrush, clean underwear and a freshly pressed shirt or blouse. The essentials of high-tech travel are significantly different — and ignoring them is much riskier.

Advisors need to become tech-savvy travellers and ensure their data is safeguarded before taking a plane, train or rental car.

> Have laptop, will travel. The five must-haves while on the road, says Dale Dunphy, a Fredericton-based partner with information-technology firm Halifax Global Inc., are: a laptop, power cables, a mouse, extra batteries for the mouse (if applicable) and an Ethernet cable or wireless card (possibly both are needed).

Dunphy recommends that chargers and adapters be kept together with the devices they power: “A power adapter or charger is often a transformer, which can look suspicious in an X-ray, especially if it’s not accompanied by the device.”

Another good way to reduce suspicion is to register any electronic devices with the Canada Border Services Agency (formerly Canada Customs) before leaving the country. An extra benefit is that, on the return trip, border agents will know you didn’t purchase the laptop while you were out of the country.

While computer memory cards and laptops can journey safely through checkpoint X-ray machines in airports, some precautions are still required. First, do not put your PC laptop in sleep mode before tucking it inside its case, Dunphy warns: “Some laptops can become overheated this way, and screen damage or hardware damage may occur.”

Sleep mode on most Apple iBooks and PowerBooks should be fine during travel, he adds, but when in doubt, shut it down.

> Ramp up security. Even though technology has made today’s office a mobile office, being at your desk with a PC and on the road with a laptop are very different work environments. “It is imperative, now that if you’re travelling, you have a laptop that has a built-in firewall and virus protection,” says David Frazer, director of technical services with F-Secure Inc., a technology firm based in San Jose, Calif.

Hackers are looking to infect your laptop — and they can do so in less than three minutes, he adds. Once they are inside your system, they search for data — names, account numbers, financial records — that they can use to access money or bank accounts.

David Fraser, an expert in privacy law with McInnes Cooper in Halifax, recommends advisors take as little information as possible on the road. He notes that most information today can be accessed remotely without the need for a memory stick, CD or laptop loaded with important files.

In case the worst should happen — your laptop or other hardware is stolen — you should make it as difficult as you can for someone to access the information inside.

“Don’t use obvious passwords,” says Frazer. Include upper- and lowercase letters and wild cards (punctuation marks) in your password. Also use file encryption applications, which require a second (different!) password, effectively cutting off hackers before any damage is done.

There is also a need to exercise caution when using a wireless network. Modern technology may make it easy to communicate with head office and work while on the road, but that doesn’t mean it is safe. Most hotels, for example, have an open network, says Frazer. “There are no restrictions on the content that you view. Your laptop can quickly become infected with spyware.”

> Comply with the law. Under Canada’s privacy legislation, if a device contains personal information, you have the legal obligation to safeguard that information, says Fraser. An individual whose information is stolen from your company computer has the right to seek redress through the courts.

The obligation to maintain privacy could get much weightier. A legal challenge currently is wending its way through the Ontario court system that may make it possible for clients to be compensated if their information is merely lost or compromised, even if no actual harm is done.

> Travel with care. “It can be a very scary place out there,” says Frazer. “But it doesn’t take a huge amount to build security for you and your client into your travels.” IE