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Industrial Espionage and Digital Forensics

Tags: experts, expert witness, computer, crime, digital, fingerprints

Data can be easily transferred from your global office in the UK to the outsourcing partner in China or India. In addition, data can be easily downloaded on USB storage devices. Therefore, sensitive data has become prone to risks like never before.

What is Industrial Espionage?

People are well aware these days that key information can make or break a business. Therefore, trade secrets, business strategies, and confidential databases are at a high risk of being stolen. Industrial espionage involves stealing critical business information through inappropriate means for commercial gains. There are times when people indulge in industrial espionage for revengeful purposes as well.

Has it Become Easier in the Digital Age to Steal Confidential Data from Competitors?
Most of our business communication takes place online these days. Corporations often term employees as their most valuable assets that are not accounted for in their balance sheets. However, these unlisted valuable assets can put your listed assets at a high risk.

Employees these days are more mobile than ever before. Most of the companies give their employees the flexibility of working from home and while they travel. Customers as well the clients want instant resolution of their queries and issues. Therefore, employees have to keep the communication channels open to meet this demand.

This demand creates a challenge for information security systems because these systems would need to provide ready access to data as well as make sure that this confidential data remains protected. However, how will you get to know if your employee sends this data in the form of an email to an unauthorized person? How will you know if your employees have made a copy of the confidential data on the USB drive?

The latter holds true for your employees within the office premises as well. Technological advancements have worked to make our lives easier, but partly, these devices have made our lives more complicated as well. USB drives can become the perfect partner in crime for malicious insiders as well as intruders in your office. They are small in size, extremely user-friendly, and no one can get to know if you are carrying it in your pocket.

What Kind of Data is at Risk of Being Stolen?

Industrial espionage follows the high-risk-high-return rule of any financial market. Confidential data has a greater chance of being stolen. Business strategies are the most common target of data theft. Rival competitors may resort to such measures to gain market presence. Business strategy papers may contain information about future products, plans or target markets. Most of these strategies are long-term strategies and because of this reason, there are long-term capital expenditures that are incurred on such strategies. If competitors steal these strategies, it can have an immensely adverse effect on the business.

Similarly, engineering designs of a particular upcoming product can be a USP of the company. These designs may hold the power to change the future of that product market. Therefore, it will be a huge loss to the company if these designs are stolen.

Bids and mergers can bring about important industry changes. Successful bids and mergers can have a huge positive impact on the company’s share prices and subsequent future growth. If the news of these mergers or the bid price were to be leaked, the company can lose the deal to its competitor.

How can Confidential Corporate Data be Stolen?

The use of Internet and mobile phones has changed the rules of the industrial espionage game completely. Malicious users have never had it so easy. It is no longer the malicious users who indulge in industrial espionage - their technological savvy gadgets simply do it for them.

An electronic bug can be enclosed in any normal mobile phone battery and this creates a listening device for the malicious user to intercept any confidential conversations. Not many companies are even aware of these devices. Research indicates that approximately 4-5% of the UK companies found these devices on their company premises when they got their company premises checked by experts.

The Role of Digital Forensics in Tracking down the Culprits

Digital forensics experts play a very important role in tracking down the criminals involved in industrial espionage. They may look at saved files in ambiguous directories or check mails that may have been sent and subsequently deleted. Digital forensics experts can track the deleted files as well. Experts can also make use of text messages that are used to plan out criminal activities. The forensics experts can recover even the deleted text messages.

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<h1>Industrial Espionage and Digital Forensics</h1><br />by jameswalsh<br /><p>Data can be easily transferred from your global office in the UK to the outsourcing partner in China or India. In addition, data can be easily downloaded on USB storage devices. Therefore, sensitive data has become prone to risks like never before.</p> <p><strong>What is Industrial Espionage? </strong></p> <p>People are well aware these days that key information can make or break a business. Therefore, trade secrets, business strategies, and confidential databases are at a high risk of being stolen. Industrial espionage involves stealing critical business information through inappropriate means for commercial gains. There are times when people indulge in industrial espionage for revengeful purposes as well. </p> <p><strong>Has it Become Easier in the Digital Age to Steal Confidential Data from Competitors? </strong><br />Most of our business communication takes place online these days. Corporations often term employees as their most valuable assets that are not accounted for in their balance sheets. However, these unlisted valuable assets can put your listed assets at a high risk. </p> <p>Employees these days are more mobile than ever before. Most of the companies give their employees the flexibility of working from home and while they travel. Customers as well the clients want instant resolution of their queries and issues. Therefore, employees have to keep the communication channels open to meet this demand. </p> <p>This demand creates a challenge for information security systems because these systems would need to provide ready access to data as well as make sure that this confidential data remains protected. However, how will you get to know if your employee sends this data in the form of an email to an unauthorized person? How will you know if your employees have made a copy of the confidential data on the USB drive? </p> <p>The latter holds true for your employees within the office premises as well. Technological advancements have worked to make our lives easier, but partly, these devices have made our lives more complicated as well. USB drives can become the perfect partner in crime for malicious insiders as well as intruders in your office. They are small in size, extremely user-friendly, and no one can get to know if you are carrying it in your pocket. </p> <p><strong>What Kind of Data is at Risk of Being Stolen? </strong></p> <p>Industrial espionage follows the high-risk-high-return rule of any financial market. Confidential data has a greater chance of being stolen. Business strategies are the most common target of data theft. Rival competitors may resort to such measures to gain market presence. Business strategy papers may contain information about future products, plans or target markets. Most of these strategies are long-term strategies and because of this reason, there are long-term capital expenditures that are incurred on such strategies. If competitors steal these strategies, it can have an immensely adverse effect on the business. </p> <p>Similarly, engineering designs of a particular upcoming product can be a USP of the company. These designs may hold the power to change the future of that product market. Therefore, it will be a huge loss to the company if these designs are stolen. </p> <p>Bids and mergers can bring about important industry changes. Successful bids and mergers can have a huge positive impact on the company’s share prices and subsequent future growth. If the news of these mergers or the bid price were to be leaked, the company can lose the deal to its competitor. </p> <p><strong>How can Confidential Corporate Data be Stolen?</strong></p> <p>The use of Internet and mobile phones has changed the rules of the industrial espionage game completely. Malicious users have never had it so easy. It is no longer the malicious users who indulge in industrial espionage - their technological savvy gadgets simply do it for them. </p> <p>An electronic bug can be enclosed in any normal mobile phone battery and this creates a listening device for the malicious user to intercept any confidential conversations. Not many companies are even aware of these devices. Research indicates that approximately 4-5% of the UK companies found these devices on their company premises when they got their company premises checked by experts. </p> <p><strong>The Role of Digital Forensics in Tracking down the Culprits</strong></p> <p>Digital forensics experts play a very important role in tracking down the criminals involved in industrial espionage. They may look at saved files in ambiguous directories or check mails that may have been sent and subsequently deleted. Digital forensics experts can track the deleted files as well. Experts can also make use of text messages that are used to plan out criminal activities. The forensics experts can recover even the deleted text messages.</p> <br /><h2>About the Author</h2><p>James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. For more information on computer crime and <a href="http://www.fieldsassociates.co.uk">Computer Forensics</a> see <a href="http://www.fieldsassociates.co.uk" title="www.fieldsassociates.co.uk">http://www.fieldsassociates.co.uk</a> </p> <br /><h3><a href="http://www.content4reprint.com/computer/data-recovery/industrial-espionage-and-digital-forensics.htm" title="Industrial Espionage and Digital Forensics">Article Source:</a> <a href="http://www.content4reprint.com" title="Free high quality articles">Content for Reprint</a></h3>