Industrial Espionage – A step beyond espionage

The current economic environment establishes market circumstances in which many have access to develop a successful business with options to achieve great enrichment. As a consequence, a highly competitive market is favored, in which organizations are willing, at times, to do anything to gain some advantage. Industrial espionage is defined as obtaining information from a rival company against its will, with the aim of sabotaging its normal operations.

For a company of this type, the fact that a cyberattack usurps its patented products is a serious problem, for several reasons:

▸Reputation

No large company likes to be the victim of a cyberattack or industrial espionage, much less if it works in a sector as delicate as healthcare. In these types of activities, the company’s image is one more component of its business, and a cyber attack of this magnitude could have a significant negative impact.

▸Competence

If the person who has stolen the patent is a competitor, it is clear that he will not use that formula 100%, since he could be accused not only of plagiarism, but also of theft. However, the mere fact of accessing the patent may mark a roadmap to make similar developments and thus steal the patent in a significantly different way.

▸Losses

For a technology product company, patents can be an important factor, but never essential. However, in an organization in the scientific sector, a patent is the central point of its work and, therefore, of its business model.

In fact, there are many forms of cyber espionage that can involve hacking because although these large organizations use computers to store information, including financial information and product formulas and are protected by specific passwords and programs, they are not always perfect. The other method would be Social engineering: which involves obtaining access to computers and information networks through fraud, lying and acquiring passwords by deceiving company personnel.

See also:
Phobos – A serious threat for working enterprises
Cyberterrorism – Why should we care about it?

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