Corporate espionage

In 2021 the estimate of the total global spending on Research and Development (R&D) was 2.23 trillion US Dollar. No surprise that cyberattacks don’t focus solely on ransomware but also on just plain stealing of information. In fancier terms; corporate espionage.

Intelligence and security services report

The Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) warns every year for corporate espionage. In December 2021 Volvo cars published a statement that the company was victim of such a corporate espionage attack because R&D property of the company was stolen, showing that this is a real problem nowadays.

Financial economic motives

And for that reason the AIVD, together with the Dutch Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD) and the National Counterterrorism and Security Service (NCTV) filed a report on this topic. In this report the intelligence and security services are raising awareness on the motives of states to spy. And with respect to this matter they notice that financial and economic motives to spy are growing rapidly.

With regard to financial and economic motives, stately actors focus spying activities on corporate business, industries and especially the top sectors, science(tists) and universities and international organizations like the EU and NATO. And digital and physical espionage is a tool to get information that stately actors can (ab)use for their financial and economic purposes.

For instance about:

• Trade secrets (trading prices; ongoing projects and investments)
• Intellectual property (industrial secrets like formulas and patented manufacturing techniques)
• Mergers & Acquisitions (trough foreign investments and takeovers)

Vulnerability assessment

For that reason the AIVD advises to do a corporate vulnerability assessment. In order to ensure business continuity targets of financial economic espionage must do a vulnerability assessment.

For example; some sectors are less likely to get hit by a ransomware attack but are more likely to be targeted for industrial espionage by digital tools. And for that reason these sectors should consider – for instance – appropriate cyber security to mitigate these risks and protect the reputation of your business. Also because clients, regulatory authorities and other stakeholders probably expect nothing less.

Legal risks and compliance

At Ploum we can help your business assess legal risks, and setting up a compliance program to mitigate espionage risks and help protect valuable company secrets. We also advise on incident response on how to react to corporate and industrial espionage.