About Espionage

Commercial espionage is a theft of trade secrets and other confidential information. Typical methods include unauthorised surveillance and various forms of physical information leaks caused by humans or technology.

Commercial espionage is a complex organised crime carried out directly by competitors or indirectly through information gathering organisations. A simple search on Internet shows that today surveillance companies significantly outnumber the counter surveillance companies and private investigators.

Due to the available technology, the speed of business transactions and recent recession, coupled with a constant pressure and appetite to succeed and grow, commercial espionage is a huge business risk. Attacks to information are long-term – and without counter measures – will result in substantial losses and damage to an organisation’s reputation and brand. However, most businesses have a ‘head-in-the-sand’ attitude and generally don’t believe they might be espionage targets. This is shocking in light of the fact that the World Economic Forum in Davos recognised industrial espionage as a significant threat to businesses already in 1996.

In WhiteRock’s experience, 80% of business information is lost through people and social engineering. The same was recognised by PWC and ASIS in 1999, whereby businesses stated that their current and former employees as well as the personnel of their strategic partners are the single largest espionage threat. Furthermore, we find that 17% of business information is lost through tangible vulnerabilities that the businesses have not prevented (with TSCM), and 3% is lost by direct unauthorised surveillance (bugging).

At a time of high exposure, over 90% of blue-chip organisations have little or no cover, no Business Continuity Planning (BCP) for this emergency, no containment planning and no combat indicator. Without the correct policy or guidelines, without awareness and understanding or a driving force from the top to provide the correct cover against your exposure, the business is unprotected. Therefore, it is only reasonable that businesses end up spending unnecessary millions and third parties will gain the upper hand without your knowledge.

In our experience, many corporate executives are lapse and unconcerned with the real value of their spoken words and the ways confidential meetings are discussed within their office environments or during their external meetings and other events. However, the executive boards ultimately have the responsibility to their shareholders of ensuring the resilience of the business, implementing the necessary cover and mitigate exposure and damages. The business either takes a risk and gambles, or implements counter measures.

To view the detailed risks and threats of espionage, click here.