All businesses, no matter their size, should be alert to the threat posed by inside spies. Insiders often seek to gain a business advantage or financial gain by taking an organization’s assets, such as intellectual property, with them on the way out the door, says Randy Trzeciak, director of the master’s program in Information Security Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University. Such people may start their own businesses or go to work for competitors.
Research by the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute, where Trzeciak also works, has found that insiders who steal intellectual property tend to be technologists, such as researchers, programmers or engineers, as well as sales and business development employees.
The Key Role of the IT Department
The IT department and its security unit or team play a key role in preventing both online and office-based industrial espionage. “Organizations should conduct regular risk assessments to identify vulnerabilities, whether weak cybersecurity measures or physical security gaps,” says Khural. “Human error is still one of the leading causes of security breaches, so creating a security culture where everyone knows how to protect sensitive information is critical.”
Any business that has invested time and resources afghanistan mobile database a product or idea should protect it, says Trzeciak. He recommends the following steps:
Identify and evaluate trade secrets.
Implement a specific plan to protect trade secrets.
Ensure physical protection of trade secrets and restrict access to them.
Ensure continuous training of employees in safety measures.
Develop a program to combat internal threats.
Proactively report suspicious incidents to law enforcement before sensitive information is irreversibly compromised.