Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Why Business Espionage is Epidemic

Business espionage has kept me in business for over 30 years now. I help organizations uncover it and stop it - before they suffer expensive losses. Eavesdropping and wiretap detection is a key component to corporate counterespionage efforts because they are the easiest espionage red flags to spot.

This is what I have learned over the years.
Business espionage is rampant due to...
1. Low cost of entry.

2. High rate of return.
3. Low probability of detection.
4. Lower probability of prosecution.
5. Even lower probability of meaningful punishment.

Example...
David A. Goldenberg, ex vice president of AMX, was arrested following a six week investigation and was charged with Unlawful Access of a Computer System/Network, Unlawful Access of Computer Data/Theft of Data and Conducting an Illegal Wiretap. On May 11 he entered a plea of guilty to felony wiretapping.

The investigation revealed that, while an employee of AMX, Goldenberg had infiltrated the email accounts of Sapphire Marketing, a sales representative for Crestron. He was intercepting emails related to potential contracts, which afforded him advanced knowledge of Sapphire's customers and bid prices affording him an opportunity to underbid them. He then established a free email account and created an automatic forward of the victim's email to that address.

He has been sentenced to three years probation, including psychological counseling, and will have to pay an undisclosed fine. The maximum sentence for the crime is five years in prison but Goldenberg has managed to avoid any jail time. (more)

In this case, damage was done. Their information and strategies were taken and used against them. The loss was expensive.

Call me if your company would like to know how to detect espionage problems before they get to this stage. ~ Kevin