Spies on the rise
Experts pinpoint several reasons for heightened spy activity.

The rise of email as the de facto means of sending messages across companies and the world has heightened the danger. Hackers can intercept email on the Internet more easily than they can tap into a phone call, and skilled spies can even penetrate a company's intranet.

"Now we're seeing more virtual corporate espionage...Rather than someone (breaking) into a physical building and (prying) open a file cabinet and (taking) out documents, the new challenge is for someone to break into an intranet and steal documents that are being sent back and forth in the company."

International security hot spots
The increasingly global world of commerce means that more tech companies are setting up shop in places such as China and Japan. ASIS says the "weakest link" in security is often the small sales office in a foreign country, where employees enjoy easy access to the company intranet but have little face-to-face contact with or loyalty to top executives.

According to ASIS, the top five countries cited as security risks are the United States, China, Japan, France and the United Kingdom. Mexico and Russia, meanwhile, have the highest increase in spy activity.

Another factor: The tech industry is increasingly becoming an industry of contractors--hired guns who write software or set up Web sites for three months to a year before moving to the next job, often at a rival firm. ASIS found that roughly 20 percent of workers at Fortune 1000 companies are temporary or part-time workers.

Although companies often require regular employees to sign non-compete clauses, in which employees promise not to work for a direct competitor for a year or more after they quit, contractors sometimes fall under the legal radar. ASIS found that few companies do thorough background checks on temps, yet most have no qualms assigning them to work with sensitive data.

Despite alarming statistics, some tech workers say espionage fears are overblown. The vast majority of companies respect the trade secrets of their rivals, they say.

Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy didn't deny that many companies rely on defectors from rivals to determine competitors' plans. There is no specific law forbidding questions about a worker's current employer in a job interview.

Reference: Trends in Proprietary information Loss

Related articles: Oracle spying on Microsoft allies

 

Author information. Copyright © [Telecom and Logistics Associates Sàrl]. All rights reserved. Revised: juin 30, 2000 .

All information provided is of a general nature and is not intended to address the circumstances of any particular individual or entity. Although we endeavor to provide accurate and timely information, there can be no guarantee that such information is accurate as of the date it is received or that it will continue to be accurate in the future. No one should act upon such information without appropriate professional advice after a thorough examination of the facts of the particular situation.