• The Five Most Common Kinds of Economic Espionage
  The clandestine collection of trade secrets or proprietary information about a company's competitors.
  The five most common kinds of economic espionage and measures that firms use to contain them are described below:
  Kind of Espionage	Description	Security Measures
  1. Dumpster diving	Economic spies pick through corporate garbage to find valuable information.	If an item is proprietary or sensitive, shred or burn it before discarding it.
  2. Elicitation	Business and scientific seminars, international trade shows, and unsolicited telephone calls all present opportunities for eliciting sensitive company information.	Since company personnel may not know whom they are talking to, they are instructed to be careful about divulging information.
  3. Electronic interception	Economic snooping conducted via telecommunications or computer intrusions using hardware available at any electronics vendor.	Hire an electronics security consultant to identify possible sources of intrusions. Transmit data by mail, the safest route.
  4. Traditional theft	Breaking into a company facility to copy corporate files or stealing an executive's luggage or laptop computer.	Install burglary systems at company facilities; executive should hand carry sensitive information.
  5. Insider treason	Economic spying conducted by company employees.	Employees should be alert to suspicious behavior.
  __________ Source: Barry R. Shapiro, “Economic Espionage,” Marketing Management (Spring 1998), pp. 56–58; “The Lure of the Steal,” U.S. News & World Report (March 4, 1996), pp. 45–48.