This Week in Business Espionage

• XPO Logistics Inc. charges that rival YRC Worldwide Inc. went to illegal extremes as XPO bought Con-way Inc. last year, the WSJ’s Loretta Chao writes, raiding the less-than-truckload carrier for executives and trade secrets on its operations and its customers. YRC won’t comment on the charges... XPO’s allegation of what amounts to corporate espionage comes at a critical time for the company. more

• One of the UK’s largest companies, British American Tobacco (BAT) is facing demands that it be investigated by the US Department of Justice, following allegations that it engaged in widespread bribery of politicians and policymakers in Africa... There are also claims that the company engaged in corporate espionage and the sabotage of competitors in Kenya. more

• Barcelona (soccer team) say they are “oblivious” to allegations of industrial espionage brought against them and former President Sandro Rosell. The Spanish Press reported on Friday that communications group Mediapro had taken Barca and Rosell to court, with its owner Jaume Roures accusing the ex-patron of e-mail theft, divulging business secrets and invading his privacy. more

• If American businesses want to curb the theft of their trade secrets and intellectual property by other countries, they are going to have to do it themselves. The good news for the American private sector is that machine learning (ML) and behavioral analytics, are offering some promise of detecting hackers before they start exfiltrating trade secrets and intellectual property (IP)... The not so good news is that those businesses are not going to be getting much help from the government. more

...and from "The World is a Strange Place" files...
• A U.S. law firm specializing in cross-border matters has opened its first office in China recently, aiming to assist local companies with legal issues against the background of a spate of spying charges against Chinese nationals. The law firm, Alston & Bird, opened its Beijing office on January 27, marking the first overseas branch of the law firm. The firm has served as counsel to a number of Chinese clients, including Tianjin University's Professor Zhang Hao, who was charged in the U.S. with economic espionage and theft of trade secrets. more