Are you or one of your organization's employees planning to attend the Olympics in Beijing this August?  If so, are there any precautions you are taking (or recommending for your staff to take) when bringing computers, PDAs, or other electronics potentially containing intellectual property on a trip to China?  I'm not suggesting that China is a dangerous place (after all, nearly anywhere on the planet you can find trouble) but there has been a lot of talk recently about cybersecurity issues in China.

So we are curious, what are you doing to protect your organization against potential theft, or even worse - the potential addition of "value added features" to your computers and devices while you are not looking?  Send us your ideas, concerns, and comments and we'll add the best ones to this diary.  You can also use the "comment" feature below to directly add your thoughts.

UPDATE

A couple of readers sent us some thoughts. 

Roseman said:

About "Going to" the Olympics....Don't forget Returning FROM the Olympics.  I keep hearing about laptops being held or "inspected" when returning (to USA, that is). Example:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/10/24/business/laptop.php  "Laptops give up their secrets to U.S. customs agents"

Which "direction" of travel should you be worried about?    I know, i know, "both".   But don't forget the "return" trip (at least in the USA)...

Mike said: 

Not going to the Olympics, but our laptops are pretty much as they came from the manufacturer.  We use terminal services for access to all corporate data so nothing is on the machines and drives are deep freezed to make sure.  Any temporary files they take with on any international trip is on encrypted USB drives.  Just not worth the chance if a laptop gets stolen/targeted or a government employee gets curious.

Marcus H. Sachs
Director, SANS Internet Storm Center