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Stopping Company Secrets From Walking Out the Front Door

Dec 14, 2017 | 08:00 GMT

While hackers can pose a serious threat to a business's sensitive information, the well-placed insider can do tremendous damage by stealing proprietary secrets.

The threat posed by hackers to a company's sensitive information cannot be overlooked. But neither should the danger that a well-placed insider could steal trade secrets that damage the bottom line.

(PETER HOWELL/iStock)

As threats of computer intrusions proliferate, many companies have rightly focused their efforts on fending them off. But few train their staffs on how to spot or respond to other techniques used to steal company secrets, including those exploited by employees with inside access. This topic came up during a recent discussion that my old friend and Stratfor colleague Fred Burton and I participated in for a webinar produced for Stratfor's Threat Lens site called "Beyond the Cyber Espionage Threat." In the course of our presentation, we noted how employees who steal a company's intellectual crown jewels can be driven by a range of motives. While money is often the goal, other factors, including satisfying egos or opposing a company's activity, can push employees to bite the hand that feeds them....

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