Economic Espionage

Economic Espionage

Economic Espionage

America's adversaries throughout history have routinely taken their competitive efforts beyond the battlefield. They frequently avoid using standing armies, shirk traditional spy circles, and go after the heart of what drives American prosperity and fuels American might. Nazi spies during World War II tried to penetrate the secrets behind our aviation technology, just as Soviet spies in the Cold War targeted our nuclear and other military secrets.

Today, foreign intelligence services, criminals, and private sector spies are focused on American industry and the private sector. These adversaries use traditional intelligence tradecraft against vulnerable American companies, and they increasingly view the cyber environment — where nearly all important business and technology information now resides — as a fast, efficient, and safe way to penetrate the foundations of our economy. Their efforts compromise intellectual property, trade secrets, and technological developments that are critical to national security. Espionage against the private sector increases the danger to long-term U.S. prosperity.

Without corrective action that mobilizes the expertise of both the Federal Government and the private sector, the technologies cultivated by American minds and within American universities are at risk of becoming the plunder of competing nations at the expense of long-term U.S. security.

The private sector alone lacks the resources and expertise to thwart foreign efforts to steal critical American know-how. This is in large part because counterintelligence is not a typical corporate function, even for well-trained and well–staffed security professionals.

Counterintelligence is a challenge for corporations for two reasons. Cost is the first reason. CI measures absorb company resources that would otherwise be used for growth. The second CI challenge is tied to the nature of public corporations. American companies are driven into developing markets by shareholders, growth ambitions, and the desire to beat Wall Street's quarterly earnings expectations. The requirement to move quickly and unabashedly leaves American companies vulnerable as they flock into spy-rich developing nations. China and Russia are our most aggressive and capable adversaries using economic espionage.

China and Russia are not the only perpetrators of espionage against sensitive US economic information and technology. Some US allies abuse the access they have been granted to try to clandestinely collect critical information that they can use for their own economic or political advantage.

Reports, Briefings & Reading Material:

Foreign Spies Stealing US Economic Secrets in Cyberspace Protecting Key Assets: A Corporate Counterintelligence Guide20180724 foreign economic espionage cyberspace

National Counterintelligence and Security Center