Recent industrial espionage concerns hit two major US corporations. Both IBM and Monsanto allege that former employees stole proprietary computer files and programming code that ended up in the hands of the Chinese.
Information is the most valuable asset of corporations today and they must take steps to protect it. Along with checking their computers, TSCM sweeps should also be considered anytime there is suspicion that a former or current employee might be involved in espionage.
From www.nasdaq.com
Monsanto Co. sued a former computer programmer, alleging he stole proprietary files after resigning to explore a job at a Chinese seed company.
The lawsuit comes as the agriculture industry’s embrace of high-tech software and analytics, led by big companies like Monsanto and Deere & Co. as well as startups, has opened up new risks. Monsanto in 2014 confirmed a security breach in one of its servers, and the company’s website has been a target for hackers.
A Monsanto spokeswoman said it started civil proceedings “to protect its assets against a former Monsanto employee.” She added: “As this is an ongoing investigation, Monsanto cannot comment further at this time.”
From engadget.com A former IBM software engineer working in China has been charged with six counts of economic espionage and theft of trade secrets, Reuters reports today. The employee, 30-year-old Xu Jiaqiang, is accused of using his access as a developer to steal and subsequently sell IBM’s proprietary source code. …Over the course of about six months in 2015, Xu demonstrated the code to the two undercover officers, who confirmed it was a “functioning copy” of IBM’s own software. Xu was finally arrested at a hotel in White Plains, New York last December after he openly admitted to the undercover agents that he used the code to build his own version of IBM’s software that he could sell to clients. In his discussions with the law enforcement officers, he even stated that he had concealed a block of code identifying it as copyrighted worked owned by IBM.