from ft.com
France is boosting its fight against corporate espionage after belatedly realising that some of its largest trading partners have been extensively spying on its companies, according to the country’s corporate intelligence chief.
Jean-Baptiste Carpentier, head of the newly created Strategic Intelligence and Economic Security unit, said Paris realised how vulnerable it was three years ago. Edward Snowden, the former US government contractor, alleged then that the US National Security Agency had engaged in corporate espionage for decades — and that France was one of its main targets in Europe.
By contrast, after the fall of the Berlin wall, the French government has rarely considered national interests when looking at the activities of private companies, Mr Carpentier said.
“Laissez-faire was the rule,” Mr Carpentier said. “We have come out of an idyllic world where the economy was something living its life separately. Snowden helped us a lot. For years, the NSA had told us its activities were essentially centred on anti-terrorism. But if the NSA taps French companies, it’s not to combat terrorism.”
François Hollande, France’s president, passed a law last year that beefed up the powers of its secret services, allowing them to use mass communication snooping tools to protect economic interests. In February, Mr Carpentier, the former chief of the anti-money laundering unit, was given the task of organising France’s response to industrial espionage and advise the government on foreign investments.
Mr Carpentier declined to reveal which sectors had fallen victim to foreign spying.
However, Bernard Squarcini, France’s chief spy until 2012, who now helps private companies fend off industrial espionage, said aeronautics and web-connected hardware were two of the most coveted.
“Airbus’ Toulouse headquarters receives frequent ‘visits’,” Mr Squarcini said. “We’re slowly catching up with the other powers.”