The actual risk of Commercial & Industrial Espionage is far more widespread and prevalent than threats to National Security – scenarios beloved of thriller writers and popular media.
Many cases of commercial failure can be attributed to a ‘leak’, deliberate or due to carelessness and low security consciousness.
Over the past decade there has been a dramatic surge in high-tech Commercial & Industrial Espionage, some cases highlighted in the Media where Boardrooms, Telephones and Data Transmissions have been monitored. In reality, there have been considerably more, but, in the interests of both Company and Shareholder, publicity has been avoided.
Timely foreknowledge of competitive tenders can mean success or failure in lucrative contract negotiations. Confidential listings of suppliers, distribution channel & customers, commercial minutiae on goods or services, costs, pricing, advertising strategies & budgets, formulae, manufacturing process & packaging data are of inestimable value in an unscrupulous market place.
Unauthorised premature intelligence of a company’s negotiating posture, strategy, in pre-takeover situations, stock-market listings, valuations etc. will critically damage vital interests.
The damage sustained is often severe, more so, if the company operates in a highly competitive, fast moving field, or is perceived as having a high risk consumer and / or industry sensitive profile.
Much information exists in the public domain, readily obtainable via recognised & legal channels of enquiry – but, an unscrupulous and desperate entity might succumb to temptation and engage in inappropriate methods to secure an illegal advantage.
Management often fails to accept the risk of espionage – its recognition only acknowledged in hindsight after sustaining damage.
It can be a corporate ‘blind spot’ – but the risk is very real, no matter what size the company. This issue should be recognised & addressed at the highest level.