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" Next week, travelers from all over the world will flood into China to see the world&amp;#039;s best athletes compete at the Beijing Olympics. Among those in attendance will be the press corps, powerful corporate executives and heads of state, including President Bush. Many of these people can&amp;#039;t afford to be disconnected from their jobs while at the games, but they may want to consider leaving their computers, smartphones and other gadgets at home--along with any expectations of privacy during their stay.  Both private sector and government security experts have issued warnings that remote technical snooping by Chinese authorities may be pervasive in public places, hotel rooms, Internet cafes and office buildings. In addition, the International Olympic Committee acknowledged on Wednesday that, despite earlier pledges of press freedom during the games, China will be blocking journalists&amp;#039; access to Web sites the government doesn&amp;#039;t want them to see. While no list was issued, early reports suggest that online information on unrest in Tibet, human rights violations and the Falun Gong spiritual movement is inaccessible.  On June 10, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent a threat assessment to federal, state and local law enforcement personnel, as well as key private sector partners, stressing the importance of securing laptops, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and more electronic devices when traveling abroad. While the alert did not mention China, a DHS representative said it was the first warning of its kind that the department has distributed broadly to nongovernmental personnel.  &amp;quot;Personal electronic equipment carried abroad is vulnerable to installations of malicious software that can steal or manipulate data well after the traveler returns,&amp;quot; the advisory warned. &amp;quot;The use of cell phones, laptops, and PDAs in foreign countries exposes these devices to unauthorized access and theft of data by criminal or foreign government elements.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Travelers should assume they cannot protect electronically stored data and should not transmit sensitive government, personal, or proprietary information on the Internet or through telecommunications equipment,&amp;quot; DHS said in its advisory, which was not released to the general public. &amp;quot;Barring that, protective measures should include using designated `travel&amp;#039; computers, singe-use cell phones, temporary e-mail addresses, as well as refraining from communicating with a home organization&amp;#039;s information technology systems.&amp;quot; The U.S. State Department has not issued a cyber-specific travel advisory for those headed to the Olympics, but it warns globe-trotters that foreign governments often place visitors under surveillance, and that hotel rooms, telephones, computers and other possessions may be searched without the consent or knowledge of the traveler.  The warnings come amid news that U.S. authorities are investigating an incident in which Chinese cyberspies allegedly copied data from a high-ranking cabinet member&amp;#039;s computer. The data was believed to have been stolen from an unattended laptop belonging to Commerce Department Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez while he was visiting China for trade talks last December.  Michael Klepper, senior manager of application security at VeriSign&amp;#039;s global consulting unit, said many of his clients--particularly those in the finance and high-tech sectors--have strict policies against the storage of company data on laptops and PDAs when traveling abroad. He also advises clients against using public Internet terminals, which may be infected with computer keystroke-logging software. Klepper tells companies they can best safeguard employee data by equipping traveling employees with &amp;quot;purpose built&amp;quot; computers that are wiped clean before and after the worker travels.  &amp;quot;That way, if you pick a virus or something up on your machine, at least you can come back, sanitize the drive and not have to worry about losing documents,&amp;quot; Klepper said. &amp;quot;We strongly recommend that people start with a fresh build and add on only that data which they really need.&amp;quot; Klepper added that companies should consider using encryption to scramble any data on computer hard drives in case the machines are lost, stolen or seized by authorities.  Phil Dunkelberger, president and chief executive officer of PGP Corp., a data encryption provider based in Menlo Park, Calif., said the company is fielding quite a few questions from people concerned about how they should protect electronic equipment before traveling to the Olympics.  Dunkelberger said most of his clients in the financial services industry are being told to leave their Blackberries and smartphones at home, and instead to purchase and use a cheap, disposable cellphone that can handle international phone calls. More significantly, he said, laptops can be seized without warning by border officials.  &amp;quot;Whether you&amp;#039;re a U.S. or foreign citizen, you should be very mindful of the data acquisition abilities of [the governments of] the places you are going,&amp;quot; Dunkelberger said. In its alert, DHS warned that customs officials in foreign countries &amp;quot;regularly inspect laptops and luggage--often without the owners being present--to copy sensitive information.&amp;quot; Surprisingly, perhaps, Americans traveling to the Olympics this year also have to be prepared for U.S. border agents to snoop into their electronic equipment. A ruling in April by a federal appeals court found that the Department of Homeland Security has the authority to search electronic devices without suspicion in the same way that it would inspect a briefcase. The lawsuit that led to the ruling stemmed from more than a dozen separate cases in which laptops, cellphones or other electronic media had been seized at airports.  According to a recent survey by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives, 81 percent of travel managers said they were unaware that border authorities could seize laptops and other devices and hold them indefinitely. Sixty-five percent of respondents said their companies have now instituted a policy restricting the amount of sensitive or proprietary data that can be carried on laptops. &amp;quot;If you have sensitive personal and professional information, the safest route when heading to the Olympics is--if you don&amp;#039;t need it, don&amp;#039;t take it,&amp;quot; Dunkelberger said.   RELATED STORIES * PODCAST: Beijing&amp;#039;s Smog Effect, Next-Gen Doping Tests &amp;amp;amp; More  * SPORTS SCIENCE: The Physics &amp;amp;amp; Physiology Behind the Summer Games  * TIME MACHINE: In Atlanta in &amp;#039;96, Internet Revolutionized the Olympic Games  * PLUS: China-Tibet Conflict Turns Digital With Hacking  * ANALYSIS: Counterfeit Chips Raise Big Hacking, Terror Threats, Experts Say  * BUZZWORD: Could Cheap Chinese Electronics Come to an End?  * ANALYSIS: Surveillance Society: New High-Tech Cameras Are Watching You  * COMPLETE COVERAGE: 2008 Olympics Science and Technology News!   Beijing has gone into fortress mode for next month&amp;#039;s Games, with police checkpoints choking road traffic into Beijing, tightened security across the city, and even surface-to-air missiles set up near Olympic venues. (Photograph by Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images) "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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