Industrial Espionage and IFSSEC '83
| Published date | 01 March 1983 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb057304 |
| Date | 01 March 1983 |
| Pages | 13-14 |
| Subject Matter | Economics,Information & knowledge management,Management science & operations |
Industrial
Espionage and
IFSSEC '83
Publicity about industrial and commercial espionage is rare.
Firms affected normally keep very quiet, probably to avoid
advertising the fact that they have been guilty of paying too lit-
tle attention to the protection of information about their
business.
It is only occasionally, as in the recent past, that the curtain of
silence is lifted and, unsurprisingly, that was in a case where
the attempted espionage was uncovered by a ruse. In Silicon
Valley, the heart of the United States' computer technology,
the FBI set up a phoney company purporting to be dealing in
secret information about the activities of IBM. The largest
Japanese industrial company, Hitachi, submitted a plea of
guil-
ty of conspiring to pay the equivalent of £354,000 for stolen
secret documents. If authentic, and forthcoming, they would
have enabled Hitachi to improve its competitive position in the
world computer market.
That was an exceptional case. Most business secrets are worth
a great deal less than those of the computer industry. But there
is information on practically every business which should be
kept confidential, which is why the organisers of IFSSEC '83,
the International Fire, Security and Safety Exhibition and Con-
ference, to be held at Olympia, London, April 18-22, arranged
a seminar on "How Secret are Your Secrets?" under the chair-
manship of Chief Superintendent, N. B. E. Ridd, Director of
the Home Office Crime Prevention Centre, the principal
speaker will be Mr D. McCrorie, Security Adviser to an interna-
tional company in the City of London. He will examine the true
value of information, the methods used by those intent on
securing it, and the procedures and equipment which can be
used to make life difficult for the thieves.
The range of information
potentially of interest to
the industrial spy is
astonishingly wide
The range of information potentially of interest to the industrial
spy is astonishingly wide. The general strategy, marketing
plans, research projects, development plans, financial situation
and take-over bids are all matters for which a competitor might
be willing to pay. And in all trades there are companies quite
willing to hand over cash for secrets, without asking inconve-
nient questions about the source of such information.
As ever, there are individuals prepared to specialise in sup-
plying a profitable market. Their methods vary. Some rely
on the astonishing slackness of many offices which make
no real effort to deter intruders from gaining access almost
at
will.
They will arm themselves with a name, preferably a
genuine name, and the thief will also have found out
enough about the occupation of the owner of the name to
be able to advance a convincing reason for a visit. A few of
them treat espionage as a sideline to supplement their in-
come from the theft of cash from handbags or wallets left
in unattended offices. Others rely on their memories to ac-
quire any information they find lying around, so that they
never have any incriminating documents on their persons
if challenged.
Top-level operators, on the other hand, will spend weeks
researching to identify target firms and information, and
even longer laying plans and cultivating members of the
staff of the companies selected for raiding. According to
backgrounds, physical attributes and former experience,
the modes of attack may range from burglary to seduction.
Some rely on the slackness
of many offices which make
no effort to deter intruders
Defeating a really skilful and determined industrial spy is
not easy, but there are many simple ways of creating han-
dicaps.
The first essential is to assess every aspect of the business
and determine what information needs protection, and the
level of protection desirable for each category. Easily the
most important single measure for any company, is to
make staff aware of the importance to corporate prosperi-
ty of keeping confidential all information acquired in the
course of their daily duties. Second in importance is the
adoption of systems of control of paperwork to ensure that
no more copies of any document are produced than is
essential,
and that circulations are limited to those who
need to see a particular document, to the point of confin-
ing distribution of the most sensitive information to those
with a "need to know". Where very important matters are
concerned, it may be necessary to organise the destruc-
tion of carbon papers or "once-only" typewriter ribbons,
and establish mechanisms to keep track of all copies run
off on copying machines. Storage facilities inside the of-
fice may also require attention. Stout lockable filing
cabinets may be secure enough for some purposes, but in
other instances certain files may need to be kept in the safe
when not in use.
There will be three other security seminars at IFSSEC. The
first will centre on the alarming growth in the number of
burglary offences in private houses and the steps that can
be taken to control the menace. The Chief Constable of
Northumbria, Mr S. Bailey, will be the main speaker. He
IMDS
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MARCH/APRIL
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1983 13
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