Attacks from Within – Corporate Espionage and Disclosure of Trade Secrets

Suspicious and Unpleasant: Is One of the Supposedly Loyal Employees a Competitor’s Spy?

Hardly any company owner or executive wants to spend much time thinking about confidential informants and industrial spies within their own company, because various espionage scenarios seem as improbable as they are devastating. Monitoring one’s own employees is always a delicate balance: too much trust benefits fraudsters and planted spies, while an atmosphere of constant mistrust and ongoing employee checks can hinder workflow and negatively affect employee motivation. Nevertheless, it is important to maintain a well-functioning security policy and, in the event of uncovered espionage, make an example that serves as a deterrent to would-be imitators. Our Düsseldorf business detective agency is repeatedly commissioned in espionage cases to find those responsible and prove their guilt in a court-admissible manner. Through detailed investigations into personal and professional backgrounds as well as surveillance of employees under justified suspicion, we often uncover court-admissible evidence that clearly proves their guilt: +49 211 9874 011-0.

 

The first step, however, is a realistic reflection on one’s own company. Even among the—trained and specially qualified—those responsible for crime prevention in 500 surveyed German companies, an astonishingly small number believed that commercial and industrial espionage posed a risk to their own business: fewer than half (46%) of companies already affected by espionage (!) and only a shocking 8% of companies that had so far emerged unscathed saw themselves exposed to a high risk. This is where our private detectives from Düsseldorf come in, not only after damage has already occurred, but also preventively before an espionage case in order to eliminate major problem areas and close gaps in the existing security concept. After all, another survey found that one third of 400 surveyed companies regularly commission external security experts such as detective agencies to protect the business.

Companies Protect Themselves Too Little

Many medium-sized companies are not aware of the danger posed to them by spies within their own ranks. The simplest security measures may be found almost everywhere, but if a person is determined to obtain information from files, a paper shredder will not stop them—for example, pages can be reassembled from the shredded pieces. In general, many company leaders and responsible security personnel do not think enough about the disposal of sensitive materials: American espionage and security expert Keith Melton reports the case of a U.S. company that had confidential documents collected separately from the rest of the trash in blue bags and burned. On site, it would have been easy for a spy planted among the cleaning staff to access those bags and make them disappear. Our detectives from Düsseldorf conduct security inspections of companies and uncover security leaks as well as potential problems in data protection.

 

The espionage tactics of some companies in search of secret information seem as though they came straight out of the most imaginative Hollywood thrillers: desk cameras placed in offices or hotel rooms to film passwords, scanners built into shredders, and mobile phone batteries fitted with bugs are just some examples encountered by investigators in the field of corporate security. Aside from direct “material” attacks by planted or fraudulent employees on plans, documents, or product samples, there are of course also cyberattacks, which are made possible by weak firewalls, uploads to cloud providers, or unencrypted email transmission. Any company that wants to present itself in the market as an innovative business must be aware of how attractive new discoveries and developments are to the competition. In case of doubt, many of your competitors will not shy away from industrial espionage.

Dangers from External as well as Internal Attacks – Aaden Detective Agency warns against Underestimating the Risk

In the above-mentioned survey of corporate specialists in crime prevention, it became clear that those from companies already affected were indeed also insightful and self-critical, identifying insufficient security precautions as the main reason for commercial and industrial espionage. In addition, the opening of markets and the increasing international competition intensify the measures taken to become or remain the most successful company in an industry, so that even unlawful and immoral actions such as espionage are no longer ruled out.

 

While many still assume that those stealing hardware and data are outsiders, everyday work at our detective agency in Düsseldorf often shows a different picture: long-time employees, just like recently hired staff, are all too often willing to pass information on to competing companies in order to gain a financial or career-related advantage for themselves. Security checks at the entrances to company premises are no more helpful than specially secured areas within the company if a delinquent employee has unrestricted access to them.

Suspicion of Corporate Espionage in Your Own Company? Hiring Detectives Is Worthwhile

If you cannot shake the suspicion that espionage may have taken place in your business, or if you already have initial indications against individual employees that are not yet sufficient for criminal prosecution or to expose the masterminds, then contact the Aaden Detective Agency Düsseldorf. Our investigators have a wide range of possible approaches that we can adapt flexibly to your specific case—whether that involves embedding detectives within the company and carrying out workplace checks, background investigations and research on specific suspicious employees, or surveillance of the suspects after work. If you already have justified reason to believe that another company is spying, our detectives will investigate in all directions and help you obtain court-admissible evidence and hold those responsible to account.

 

You can reach our specialists Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the following number: +49 211 9874 011-0.

Aaden Detectives Düsseldorf

Münsterstraße 306

D-40470 Düsseldorf

Tel.: +49 211 9874 011-0

Fax: +49 211 9874 011-9

E-Mail: info@aaden-detektive-duesseldorf.de

Web: https://aaden-detektive-duesseldorf.de/en

 

CEO: Maya Grünschloß, PhD

Register Court: Amtsgericht Köln

Registration Number: HRB 83824