Conference and meeting rooms are a major target in corporate espionage and easily compromised by bugging.
A lawsuit has been filed claiming that a unit of Panasonic Corporation secretly bugged a conference room where a business partner was holding a confidential meeting.
Panasonic Avionics
Panasonic Avionics is accused of stealing confidential, proprietary information related to the software used to run in-flight entertainment systems.
CoKinetic Systems Corp. claims that Panasonic bugged a meeting with Emirates Airlines at the carrier’s lab so they (Panasonic) could learn how to make the CoKinetic software fail to work on Emirates planes. CoKinetics learned about the bugs from a Panasonic whistle blower who has since been fired by Panasonic.
The lawsuit claims that Panasonic could gain an advantage and have its software replace CoKinetics’ if the relationship between Emirates and CoKinetic was damaged.
CoKinetic in-flight entertainment systems.
CoKinetic learned about the alleged bugs from a Panasonic whistle blower — who was then fired by Panasonic , the lawsuit claims.
It was reported in the New York Post that “Panasonic has carried out a relentless campaign to maintain monopoly control over the software and media services used by airlines around the world,” Todd Higgins, a lawyer for CoKinetic, said in the lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court.
Court filing pdf can be read [here] (thanks to Stuart Thompson for supplying the link), below is an excerpt:
45. Panasonic even secretly eavesdropped on confidential CoKinetic business meetings as well as private discussions with Emirates employees while CoKinetic was working on Emirates’ IFE system in Panasonic’s Emirates lab—a facility with a private office that, as CoKinetic would later learn from a Panasonic whistleblower, had been secretly wired with a listening device to spy on CoKinetic.
46. Panasonic’s espionage was only one part of a concerted scheme to defame, disparage, and sabotage CoKinetic’s product and cause Emirates to discontinue using CoKinetic’s AirPlay software, even though Emirates, much like Virgin America, was winning industry awards with AirPlay for the best IFE system in the world.
CoKinetic had a 10-year partnership with Panasonic until it recently soured. Over that period, CoKinetic software had powered Panasonic seat back screens aboard several airlines, including Delta and Virgin America. Panasonic also bribed airline executives to drop CoKinetic, it is alleged.
Bugging and eavesdropping often occur when business rivalry heats up. Corporations should always consider the importance of information security when planning meetings and conferences and include electronic countermeasures sweeps on a regular basis.