Berkeley Lab has seen an increase in IT, cybersecurity and research security risks associated with foreign travel to certain countries. Lab devices have been more likely to be tracked or seized by foreign governments during the course of both official Lab travel and personal travel. These incidents reflect a similar rise in these types of incidents across the national lab complex, and the US government.
Requirement
To minimize the risks of this type of travel, protect Lab research and individuals’ personal information, no government-owned devices (e.g. DOE-tagged laptops and tablets) may be taken while travelling to a DOE Foreign Country of Risk. This policy applies to Lab-approved official travel, personal travel if you intend to bring a Lab device, and foreign travel that requires you to connect through a DOE Foreign Country of Risk.
The DOE Foreign Country of Risk list may be accessed at this Department of Energy website.
Exceptions
The Lab recognizes that there are legitimate business reasons that require individuals to bring their devices with them during official and/or personal travel to a DOE Foreign Country of Risk. Exceptions to this requirement may be processed as part of the foreign travel authorization process. If you have any questions, please reach out to itpolicy@lbl.gov.
Personal Travel
This requirement only applies to personal travel if you intend to bring a Lab device with you, and are traveling to or connecting through a DOE Foreign Country of Risk. The vast majority of travel will not be affected. If you believe your personal travel falls within the scope of this policy, please reach out to itpolicy@lbl.gov.
How to protect your devices during foreign travel
There are many things you can do to protect yourself, your devices and your data during foreign travel. Berkeley Lab IT recommends you take the following actions before traveling abroad:
- Install Crowdstrike
- Backup your device(s)
- Log out of any password managers you use (e.g. LastPass)
- Clear any passwords stored in your browser
- Make sure your lab password is different from any other password
- You may be asked to provide this password during your travel
- Install and test the Lab VPN
- Only authenticate to website services that require MFA (both Lab and personal)
- Clear browser cache after each use
- Turn on drive encryption (Windows, Mac)
- Update your devices to the latest version
Request a Loaner laptop at help@lbl.gov
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