Something I had never given much thought to caught my eye: an article by an American lawyer making the case for taking economic espionage seriously. It’s difficult to get one’s head around companies spying on each other to gain a competitive advantage, sometimes with the backing of a state. If you want to read the article in Foreign Affairs magazine, the link is at the end of this article.
What do we know about commercial espionage? It happens behind the scenes, so successfully hidden that cases are rarely discovered, let alone reported. Companies operate in secrecy as a matter of course because of competition. But competition can be so fierce that confidential information becomes extremely valuable. The theft of trade secrets, product designs or manufacturing processes can cause substantial financial damage.
Corporate or commercial espionage occurs in the world’s largest economies, including the US, China and Russia. But what about smaller economies such as South Africa?
Unless you’re involved in intelligence work or happen to know of specific cases, it’s difficult to establish the extent of commercial or industrial espionage here. Fraud, cybercrime, BEE fronting and the looting of government and municipal funds and property make the headlines, and some cases end up in court. But search for industrial and commercial espionage and the trail becomes much harder to follow.
One of the more striking South African examples involves the illegal cigarette trade. Investigative reporting has uncovered substantial evidence of surveillance and intelligence-gathering operations involving British American Tobacco and its contractors, allegedly targeting competitors. The case illustrates how far commercial rivalry can extend beyond ordinary competition.
Information can also be passed to a new employer by former employees. But not every instance of confidential information changing hands amounts to industrial espionage, and the value of such information can diminish as markets change and competitors develop new strategies. The more valuable targets may be technical knowledge, research, production methods or other closely guarded information that gives a company a lasting advantage.
Then there is the possibility of artificial intelligence being used specifically and surreptitiously to obtain commercially sensitive information.
Such information could include proprietary technology, supply-chain data, industrial capacity and financing arrangements. AI could potentially help identify valuable targets, analyse stolen material or automate the collection of information on a scale that would previously have required considerable human effort. It is also conceivable that purpose-built AI systems could be developed for espionage, crossing legal and ethical boundaries.
The implications for businesses are serious. Companies could face growing costs as they try to protect confidential information through cybersecurity measures, access controls and other defences. And if AI makes it easier to identify and exploit vulnerabilities, conventional protection may not be enough.
This is a potential future threat rather than proof that AI espionage has already become widespread. But it raises questions about how companies will protect their most valuable information as the technology develops.
It could all end in something far removed from a John le Carré spy novel, with its agents tracking state secrets across borders. The intrigue of corporate espionage in the age of AI could be far more fascinating.
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/case-economic-espionage-david-cohen
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