Intelligence Newsletter

February 3, 2000

THE STATISTICS ON ECONOMIC SPYING

The New York investigative and business intelligence firm Michael Kessler & Associates has just published a report on the theft of information from American companies. Basing its information on cases which remain confidential, it sets out to find the origin of attacks in order to better assess the impact.

The consultants reckoned that 35% of stolen information stems from malicious acts by a company's own workers. Another 28% of intrusions can be put down to hackers who manage to break into computer systems but operate with no particular motive. A further 28% originate from operations carried out by U.S. competitors while the rest involves operations conducted on behalf of foreign companies or governments. Kessler estimated that American firms lost $ 42 million due to computer intrusion last year. But some trade associations say the figure is more like $ 200 million per year.