Best Practice when Attending a Conference or Traveling
It’s that time of year again. Time to make plans for travel and for attending professional conferences. When planning your professional activities don’t forget to keep research security in mind. Here are three areas of focus and some reminders along with a few links to help you during your conference.
Stay cybersafe.
- Avoid connecting to a public wi-fi without either using a personal hotspot or VPN service which is much safer.
- Disable bluetooth and file sharing when not needed.
- Use a power block or a portable battery rather than a USB connection when charging your phone or laptop in the airport, hotel, coffee shop, or other public spaces.
- Keep your software and security updated on your device.
- Don’t leave your laptop unattended and make sure that it is password protected. If the device begins to run slowly, don’t continue to use it and contact security@georgiasouthern.edu, for further guidance.
Be mindful while networking to protect your work.
- When interacting with non-US persons, don’t discuss confidential information shared by the sponsor of a research project or discuss any research that is not your own.
- Some attendees with whom you will interact are genuinely interested in your work and others may be inquiring on behalf of another country or researcher. This applies to contact with international students as well since they may be acting under the direction of another researcher, competitor or a foreign intelligence service.
- Understand that the interests of foreign universities, foreign companies and foreign governments may be interconnected. Beware of interests with an ulterior motive. Know your collaborator before you share too much.
- In the event that you are uneasy about an encounter during your conference attendance, feel free to contact Research Security and Export Control (RSEC) at exportcontrol@georgiasouthern.edu.
Be vigilant of your physical surroundings.
- Be aware of who’s looking at your screen, especially in public areas. Use a screen protector if you are working in public spaces and on airplanes.
- Don’t leave your devices unattended, including charging cables as they can be exploited by malware or data theft.
- Avoid hotel safes if possible.
Finally, please take a moment to look at our University webpage, Travel Tips.
Last updated: 3/18/2025