Intelligence Chiefs Warn of Commercial Espionage
The domestic intelligence chiefs of the “Fives Eyes” – Australia, Canada, US, New Zealand and UK – say that they are seeing a sharp rise in attempts by hostile states to steal intellectual property.
The intelligence chiefs spoke at an event hosted by Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.
This is a little different that what the foreign intelligence chiefs are worried about. They are worried about these countries trying to shut down the power grid and attack our critical infrastructure.
While that is certainly a valid problem, in addition to that, we have to deal with our adversaries stealing our intellectual property or IP. Our IP is what allows us to be a leader in the world market and if our adversaries successfully steal it, it significantly reduces our competitive advantage.
The MI5 chief (UK) says the problem is particularly acute on emerging technologies like AI and quantum computing.
The FBI has repeatedly said that they are conducting investigations of more than 1,000 IP cases at any one time associated with China alone. They say they are opening something like five new cases each and every day.
China, of course, denies stealing anything, even though we arrest Chinese nationals for doing just that on a regular basis. They say they are just very smart. That is true – and, do a degree, smart crooks.
The scary thing is that given the number of people arrested and the number of investigations opened, what fraction of the actual attacks does this represent? Is it 1% or 5% or 50%? My guess is that it is closer to the 1% number, unfortunately.
The UK has come up with five extremely high level recommendations:
- Know the threats
- Secure your environment
- Secure your products
- Secure your partnerships
- Secure your growth
While those are easy to say, actually doing them is hard. If you need help, please ask us for assistance. Credit: The Record
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