The Quiet Threat: Fighting Industrial Espionage In America

In the years since the first edition, industrial and corporate espionage have not diminished. There has been, however, an increase in awareness about the issues. There are more graduatelevel programs in business and in security that are offering courses and training on intelligence gathering in the commercial sector. Training in the protection of confidential documents and materials that forms a part of security certification programs has been updated. With the large amount of outsourcing in the technological sector overseas, information transfer and leakage continues to be a serious problem, and as long as corporations see outsourcing as a way to save money in the short term, dangers will persist. The security community will need to continue to pursue this issue politically and socially. Accordingly, the text focuses on these issues and gives the reader a real sense of how industrial spies are persistent and clever in circumventing defenses. It examines both the defensive and offensive tactics necessary to fight industrial espionage. Living with paradox should be the theme for the security professional, and the book draws wisdom from political philosophers like Machiavelli to aid in that perspective. A clear plan of action in dealing with industrial espionage in a fluid, mobile, informationrich business environment is offered. Two additional chapters cover the tradecraft of the industrial spy and the uses of data mining in gathering business intelligence. An outline is offered for planning an intelligence campaign against a target, and a sample strategic intelligence report about a business is included. In addition, there is also a glossary of terms related to industrial espionage. These additional tools should increase a security professional's awareness of the corporate spy's mindset, which is a major portion of the battle. This book will serve as a valuable resource to security professionals in law enforcement and the business sector.