Thus there is an urgent need to enact and enforce stringent laws pertaining to cyber offences. Cyber attacks are becoming increasingly common in both public and private sectors. The basic difference between both is that while indulging in Corporate Espionage, the internet and connections used are equipped with a more advanced ‘attacking’ mode. Spying involves the use of almost the same technology as the one used for Competitive Intelligence i.e. Spies no longer need to physically break into offices or homes to acquire sensitive information.
The means of spying have also undergone substantial transformations with the advent of technology. The internet has now become a ‘highway of information’ when it comes to gathering and processing information and data in relation to anything and anyone. Where Competitive Intelligence is ethical and legal, Corporate Espionage is the exact opposite. There is a very thin line of difference between Corporate Espionage and Competitive Intelligence. In today’s world where it is truly the survival of the fittest, knowing one’s own competition has become very important for most corporations/organizations. The information thieves use many intrusive methods in order to gain such sensitive information for instance eavesdropping by bugging offices, wiretapping, recording telephone conversations, penetrating computer networks etc. resulting in breach of security of an organization and gaining access to its confidential and sensitive information. It covers within itself illegal activities such as theft of trade secrets, business plans, customers’ lists, pricing data, bribery, blackmail, technological surveillance etc. Thus, ‘Corporate Espionage’ basically refers to a practice wherein a corporate system or structure is impregnated with the help of spies or systems so as to facilitate the leakage of information which could mar the general growth of the victim organization. ‘Espionage’, according to the Oxford Dictionary, is the practice of spying or of using spies. The Oxford Dictionary defines the word ‘Corporate’ as relating to a business corporation, of or shared by all members of a group. The word ‘Corporate’ has been derived from the Latin word corporatus or corpus which means body. In order to understand the concept of Corporate Espionage, we must first understand the etymology of the words used therein. As already mentioned, Corporate Espionage is the practice of gaining information regarding one’s competitors using unethical or illicit means, without the knowledge of that competitor writes Harsh Sinha.
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