You’re somewhere on I-15, halfway between Draper and St. George. In the backseat, your 10-year-old asks, "Can I play Minecraft on your laptop?" Not just any laptop—your work laptop. The one loaded with CAD models, municipal site data, and login credentials for your Salt Lake City firm's entire design ecosystem.
You’re tired. The canyon traffic is rough. The idea of quiet for 30 minutes sounds amazing. What could go wrong?
Here’s the reality: Holiday travel introduces vulnerabilities your engineering firm can’t afford. You're off your usual routine, juggling family time with "just a quick Revit file update," and often working from unsecure networks or unprotected devices.
Whether you're heading to Moab or your in-laws in Idaho Falls, this guide will help Salt Lake City engineers travel smart—without compromising your systems, security, or sanity.
Before You Leave: 15 Minutes That Could Save Your Firm
Device Prep:
- Install updates for your CAD, BIM, and cloud tools (yes, before the road trip)
- Back up everything to secure cloud storage (not just your desktop)
- Enable auto screen-lock (2 minutes max)
- Turn on "Find My Device" for your laptop and phone
- Charge your power bank and pack your cables
Team Briefing (a.k.a. the family talk):
- Make it clear which devices are off-limits
- Set up a travel-only tablet for the kids
- If you must share your laptop, create a separate, locked-down user profile
Pro tip: A $150 Amazon Fire tablet beats a five-figure ransomware incident. Protect your firm before your family movie night.
Hotel WiFi: Where Good Engineers Get Burned
You roll into the hotel. WiFi passwords are handed out like mints at the front desk. But here’s the issue: Hotel networks are public, shared, and wide open to attack.
True story: A Salt Lake Valley project manager thought he was connected to the hotel’s WiFi. Turns out, it was a spoofed hotspot. His email, client files, and login credentials were being skimmed for two days.
How to stay safe:
- Confirm the exact network name with the front desk
- Use a VPN for any remote work access
- For sensitive tasks (budget spreadsheets, bid submissions, infrastructure docs): skip hotel WiFi entirely and use your phone’s hotspot
- Let your kids stream on hotel WiFi. You? Stick to secure connections for anything client-facing
The "Can I Use Your Laptop?" Dilemma
Your work laptop holds Revit project files, Bluebeam licenses, Deltek credentials, and email chains that could make or break your next contract. One misclick from a child? It’s over.
Best practices:
- Just say no to kids on work machines
- If you absolutely must share:
- Use a guest account with no admin access
- Block downloads
- Clear browser data post-use
- Monitor activity closely
Smarter option: Bring a travel-only Chromebook or tablet. Let them burn battery life there instead of on your firm’s future.
Streaming On Hotel TVs: The Forgotten Log-Out
Your family wants to wind down with a movie. You log into Netflix or Disney+ on the hotel’s smart TV. Harmless, right?
Until you forget to log out.
Risks:
- Next guest gets access to your account
- If you reused that password for work logins (we hope not), you’re wide open
Fixes:
- Stream from your own device and cast to the TV
- Set a phone reminder to log out before checkout
- Download media in advance and skip the hotel tech altogether
Never log into hotel TVs for:
- VPN access
- Cloud platforms
- Banking or invoicing tools
Lost Devices: Act Fast To Contain the Damage
Losing a device with confidential plans or sensitive infrastructure files is more than a headache—it’s a breach.
First-hour action plan:
- Use "Find My Device" immediately
- Lock the device remotely
- Change all major passwords from a backup device
- Notify your internal IT manager or MSP (us)
- Document and, if necessary, notify affected parties
Your device should already have:
- Remote tracking
- Full-disk encryption
- Complex password protection
- Remote wipe enabled
Kids lose things too. Set their tablets up with basic protections and location tracking before the trip.
Rental Car Bluetooth: A Data Leak You Didn’t Expect
You connect your phone to the rental car for directions. Harmless? Maybe. But that car is storing your contacts, call logs, and often messaging previews.
Before turning in the keys:
- Delete your device from the car’s Bluetooth settings
- Clear all recent destinations from navigation history
Or better yet—just use your phone on speaker and avoid syncing altogether.
The "Working Vacation" Trap
You swore you'd unplug. But between delays on the I-215 belt route and a silent moment in the Airbnb, you check your email. Then Teams. Then a client portal. Before long, you're halfway through a Redline review while your family plays cards.
Why it matters:
Working in half-focused mode is when most security mistakes happen. You’re tired, distracted, and less likely to notice a phishing email or bad WiFi connection.
Better boundaries:
- Limit check-ins to two designated times per day
- Use mobile hotspots instead of public WiFi
- Work from private spaces, not the hotel lobby or Starbucks patio
- Protect your screen (shoulder surfers exist)
Or best of all: actually disconnect. You’ll be more focused when you return—and far less likely to make preventable mistakes.
Final Word: Secure Travel, Secure Business
Holiday travel doesn’t have to mean compromising your engineering firm’s IT security. With a little planning and a few non-negotiables, you can protect your team, your data, and your clients—without ruining family time.
If you're managing remote teams, project files, and compliance requirements while traveling, you need more than a firewall. You need a plan.
At Qual IT, we provide IT support and cybersecurity services for engineering firms in Salt Lake City—so you can step away without losing control.
Click here to book your free network assessment
Because the best memories from this holiday season shouldn’t include, “Remember when our project files got breached at the cabin?”
From all of us at Qual IT, stay safe and stay smart.
