Economic espionage is a serious threat to U.S. companies that rely on innovation

Question

Economic espionage is a serious threat to U.S. companies that rely on innovation. This assignment will be based on a true event. Before starting this assignment, review the following video transcript. It is from a CBS’s 60 Minutes, broadcast in January 2016.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-great-brain-robbery-china-cyber-espionage/

The company featured on this video is victim of economic espionage. The CEO hired two specialists to help with the issue and prepare the response.

Based on information from the video (feel free to research additional sources, including company’s website because this story has been all over the news), assume that you are one of the experts hired. Prepare the assessment report that company’s management will use to make their legal case and revise policies to protect their intellectual property from future intrusions.

Make sure that your report includes the following:

1. Investigation Plan

2.Identify and explain at least five potential threats.

3.Identify and explain at least five vulnerabilities

4.Identify and explain at least five risks

5.Largest impact

Consider the following legal and regulatory sources for your report:

1.CopyrightTrademark/Patent

2.No Electronic Theft Act of 1997

3.Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998

4.World Intellectual Property Organization

5.Berne Convention

6.WIPO Copyright Treaty of 1996

7.Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005

8.Telephone Records and Privacy Protection Act of 2006

Your total report should be eight to ten pages long, of business quality, and follow the outline.

Explanation / Answer

Economic Espionage is basically a theft of Economic intellectual property or economic intelligence. It is a kind of unlawful drainage of Economic intelligence of a country.

Economic Espionage is posing as a serious threat to the leading economies of the world and is being considered as a major cause behind the losses of many private businesses and loss of jobs on a large scale.

(1).

Investigation Plan:

The Economic intelligence is one of the most important assets of a nation. The valuable ideas and innovations are the ones which generates huge profit and distinct products and services. Thus proper investigation for economic espionage is essential for avoiding such kind of unlawful drainage of economic intelligence.

The government must be highly observant regarding any kind of theft of data. Any minor leakage of data may lead to an massive economic espionage. Thus it becomes very important to keep a sharp eye on any such leakages. For ensuring this, the government must set up a special intelligence department for keeping a close eye on any kind of unethical loss of data from the home country to abroad. The government, the private sector and the foreignsic department must have proper coordination between them for avoiding economic espionage.

The cyber security cell of the government has to be highly alert ragrding such kinds of threats related to data theft.

Potential Threats:

Loss of Innovative ideas: Economic Espionage leads to a theft of innovation that a bussiness of a particular country owns and uses it for carrying out economic activities. Such drainage of innovation leads to a massive loss of economic intelligence of a nation.
Shut down of Firms: Economic espionage has been considered as a major reason behind shut down of many firms in US and other leading economies of the world. Economic Espionage thus makes a nation economically weaker by targeting its flourishing economic activities.
Massive Unemployment: Economic espionage leads to massive unemployment resulting from shut down of firms and as a result it has a negetive impact on the purchasing power of the citizens by making the country poor.
Shifting of businesses: Economic espionage compels the businessmen to shift their business to a different product or service. Since the business idea which they owned had been theived.
National Threat: Economic Espionage is a national threat which paralyzes a nation by strongly hitting its economic activities and creating an obstacle on the path of economic growth.
(3).

Vulnerabilities:

The most Vulnearble industries are as follows:

Soft ware and Hardware: The computer industry is most vulnerable to Economic espionage, since, most of the brilliant hackers easily rob the important datas.
Energy: The industry related to renewable and non renewable sources of energy are highly attacked by economic espionage.
Automobile : The automobile industry of US was largely hit by economic espionage by China which resulted to a massive loss to the American economy.
Telecommunication: Telecommunication sector is commonly targeted by for economic espionage by extracting important datas related to communication.
Aerospace: Aerospace industry is quite vulnerable to economic espionage as it it contributes largely in a country's development.
(4).

Risks:

Financial Loss: Economic Espionage leads to large financial loss to the private business and on the country as a whole.
Technological Loss: Loss of important technology is one of the main risk related to economic espionage which leads to many other risks and vulnerabilities.
Loss of manpower: Valuable manpower is also sometimes drained in the process of economic espionage.
Risk of Market Slowdown: Since, economic espionage targets to weaken the economy so the risk of market slowdown is prominent in case of theft of economic intelligence.
Slow recovery: The nation generally takes a long period to over come the ill effects of economic espionage and as a result the economic condition of the country detoriates at a faster pace.

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