Coca-Cola Trade Secret Theft Underscores Importance of Early Detection

The trial of Xiaorong You is set to begin today, April 6, in Greenville, TN. She is accused of trade secret theft and economic espionage after allegedly stealing bisphenol-A-free (BPA-free) technologies owned by several companies, including her former employers Coca-Cola and Eastman Chemical Company. 

The value placed on the development of the stolen technologies is $119.6 million. Other affected companies include Azko-Nobel, Dow Chemical, PPG, TSI, Sherwin Williams and ToyoChem.

Two actions could have stopped the theft or lessened its impact:

• Real-time alerts and processes designed to prevent sensitive and protected data from exiting the corporate environment.
• Prohibiting personal and non-authorized electronic devices, including smartphones, from proximity to trade secrets or sensitive installations. 

Using the smartphone’s camera to copy documents and workspace is a throwback technique of espionage days of old, when miniature and subminiature cameras would be used to copy documents from within restricted spaces. more 

See Murray Associates - Recording in the Workplace Recommendations