A big source of concern for several industries around the world, industrial espionage is an increasingly widespread practice in companies. This scourge is developing in different ways.
This is why it is difficult to counter. It’s sometimes already too late to intervene when the situation is identified.
It is important for any company that could be the target of this type of attack to be prepared for this eventuality and to have processes in place to counter industrial espionage. This problem represents billions of dollars lost by companies, but also invested by political and commercial entities in order to obtain information and steal industrial secrets.
Exposed in the open, this data, business information or conversations can lead to countless consequences, which can lead to bankruptcy.
Protect your confidential chats with professional tools
The smart devices around us are most of the time secure, but it is not uncommon for security breaches to form in these devices.
A good way to counter eavesdropping is to leave your mobile outside the room where strategic meetings take place, or even during sensitive discussions. In this way, you physically avoid eavesdropping and possible theft of technology or confidential information.
More and more devices today have a built-in voice recorder. One can think in particular of smartphones, smart watches, headphones, etc. These are many ways to get your hands on conversations that are sensitive, or in no way should be exposed in the open.
One of the best methods to prevent the theft of trade secrets or any kind of information theft is to use a device specially designed to protect business discussions such as HARP. This is a device which, using high frequency, allows the recordings to be scrambled and thus prevents any illegal listening during external and internal communications.
It’s a great protection against corporate espionage, cyber attacks and hackers that might want to access a phone and listen to your ongoing conversations.
The HARP is designed to create a bubble of protection around your conferences and discussions to prevent remote eavesdropping by unwanted devices.
Protect your business information
It’s important to establish clear and secure processes before anyone can get their hands on documents, records or any information about your business.
This precaution could prevent someone visiting your business from easily gaining access to sensitive information. This may include a passing customer, a subcontractor or any other person who is not part of your company that wants to get a competitive advantage from information found in your business files.
Consulting information protection experts (virtual and physical) to properly protect the circulation of confidential documents and files is a wise choice. Whether using antivirus, protection software or encryption systems, several options are available to you to protect your computer networks and other lines of communication used in your company.
A register of document issues and returns is also an appropriate solution to identify the people who have come into contact with this information.
Identify flaws before they arise
Whether by hiring a new employee, an intern, a subcontractor or at the start of an agreement with a new business partner, an industrial espionage threat can come in the form of someone coming into contact with your company, even for a limited time.
Educating HR managers on the latest threats and advances in espionage is a good way to anticipate this kind of problem. Imposing clear objectives on the analysis of the files of the applications received and checking the criminal records of the applicants and partner companies is essential.
Check whether these people have links with groups and associations that could pose a risk to your business activities. They are frontline solutions to prevent malicious activities from external threats.
Protect your business legally
It is by carefully preparing employment contracts, confidentiality clauses, contracts with partners and all legal agreements that you add an additional layer of protection. You may not have stopped the theft, but you will be able to legally retaliate against an industrial espionage problem in the event of intellectual property theft.
Financial penalties for disclosures or non-compliance with commitments related to the security of your business are often very good tools to eliminate the possibility of information leaks.
Trust security experts
The world of new technologies is constantly evolving. The same applies to the means of carrying out industrial espionage.
It is important to keep up to date on the latest news on the issue and to be on the lookout for solutions to be put in place to counter any organization that wants to steal information from your company.
Do business with security experts such as Santor Sécurité inc. allows you to review the effectiveness of your information management processes with the help of professionals. It also allows you to discover new methods and safeguards to add to your business to protect your business information.
Book a meeting with our team right now and discover how much we put effort into our products that prevent Industrial espionage all around the world.
