Pierre Marion, former head of the French external intelligence service, bragged about efforts to spy on American companies. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. While the EEA is a criminal statute and can impose more potentially severe punishment (including hefty fines, forfeiture of profits, and imprisonment up to 15 years), unlike the UTSA, it requires theft to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, and is therefore more difficult to prosecute. In 1876, the British managed to smuggle out some rubber-tree seeds, and used them to develop more disease-resistant varieties that were used to start rubber plantations in the Asian British Colonies. At the time, the only exporter of raw rubber was Brazil, who was very protective of their valuable national resource. For example, in the early 1970s, the Soviets used economic espionage to negotiate favorable terms on large wheat purchases. There is also the scenario where a trusted employee can be lured into revealing details in return for money or because they are being blackmailed. Due to China's monopoly on the product, porcelain was exorbitantly expensive, and Europeans tried in vain to discover the secret of its manufacture. Before this, federal prosecutors were limited to using laws like the Interstate Transportation of Stolen Property Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to prosecute economic espionage. In addition to electronic devices, companies must also guard against physical theft. [3], During the 1800s, rubber exploded onto the world market. Despite tight security, he also managed to send a sample of the clay used to make porcelain, and it was not long before China lost its lucrative porcelain monopoly. Methods such as bribery, blackmail, theft, technological surveillance, and even occasional violence are used to illegally obtain private information for economic gain. A typical scenario would involve a hacker using software or malware to find a weak spot in your systems that they can then attack.

Industrial espionage can be divided into two types. You would never dream of letting your rivals see sensitive data about your business or reveal any future product plans that you might have but it is is possible that information like that could be obtained if you are a victim of industrial espionage. One of the most well-known trade secrets is the formula for Coca-Cola. Bugging devices and spyware, once installed, can provide an ongoing wealth of information to a corporate spy. Types of Industrial Espionage. Another viable potential source of espionage would be when an employee has left you and either has an urge to get back at you for some reason and decides to act maliciously or has gone to work for a competitor and decides to pass on sensitive data that they obtained while working for you. One of the most prominent threats when it comes to industrial espionage is the risk of being targeted by a cyber attack. It is also fair to point out that some employees might unwittingly reveal sensitive data if they are tricked into revealing details using social engineering techniques, for instance. Throughout the Cold War, Soviet KGB agents attempted to steal a vast amount of information from the United States. Industrial espionage, economic espionage, and corporate espionage are phrases used to describe espionage conducted for commercial and economic purposes, as opposed to national security purposes. The number of reported cyber attacks is rising each year and hackers are often called into action by unscrupulous businesses who seek to gain an unfair advantage in order to see if they can exploit any vulnerabilities in your systems and software. Technological advancements, such as the increased use of cell phones and computers, have made companies more vulnerable to information theft. This provides another compelling reason for getting every employee to sign an agreement that explicitly forbids them from sharing information that they have been trusted with during their time at the business. Another famous trade secret is the formula for Kentucky Fried Chicken's "Eleven Herbs and Spices."