What is Industrial Espionage?
The word ‘espionage’ itself comes from the French ‘espionnage’ which means to spy, to spy. Imagine the rearview mirror of a vehicle, its function is to spy, right? So espionage is an attempt or act of reconnaissance or spying in secret and secret whose purpose is to obtain information on something that is considered secret by accessing the place where the information is located or stored either directly or indirectly through the intermediary of other people, all of which This is done without the permission of the owner of the information concerned.
Espionage is basically an act that is against the law, because it is carried out secretly, clandestinely, and secretly to obtain information from the opponent who is the target, without any authority given. At first this espionage activity was carried out by the intelligence agency of a country to spy on other countries that became rivals in terms of politics, economy, technology. However, nowadays espionage activities have developed, not only in government circles, but also in business affairs in a smaller scope such as companies, known as ‘industrial espionage’.
Industrial espionage is basically the practice of spying, stalking, seeking confidential information about other companies that are business opponents that will be used as tools or materials to launch campaigns in an effort to win business competition. This industrial information can be obtained directly from within the company, for example by paying an intruder to steal information, or through external parties who have close connections with the target company, for example by bribing state officials who have data and information about the target company, to can divulge the target company’s secrets. On a broader scale, industrial espionage can enter into the practice of a country to spy or spy on the latest industries that are being developed by a country, and then quickly developed in their own country so that they can win domestic market share before imported goods enter.
Although carried out secretly and covertly, basically industrial espionage is a systematic and legal process as part of the Competitive Intelligence needed to make good policies and decisions in order to win the competition in the market, as long as it is carried out in a healthy manner without harming other parties. materially. State-scale industrial espionage is generally carried out by the largest economies or superpowers, and can sometimes increase tensions between countries, such as the recent case of a Chinese company, Huawei, which the Americans accused of being the gateway for China to spy on the country. West, especially America, which is considered to be detrimental to the economy of Uncle Sam’s country, until finally the Huawei company had to be blocked from America and Britain.
So, how does industrial espionage work?
As mentioned a little above, that industrial espionage is carried out as a business strategy to find out information about the strengths and weaknesses of business opponents so that it is an effort to win business competition. The more and more valid data and information obtained, of course, it will be easier for the company to guess what the target company’s steps are, and then anticipate it to be able to win the competition. The general steps taken to carry out espionage are:
Espionage planning; whether this is done in the military or defense, political, economic, technological, or industrial fields. Planning for an industry that is the subject of spies will greatly determine the next steps taken.
Information gathering; After the object and subject have been determined, the next stage is the collection of data and information either by internal or external parties. Internal parties are people themselves who are assigned to infiltrate the targeted company. This can take the form of any assignment, including impersonating a working employee. Meanwhile, from external parties, such as bribing the state apparatus to divulge secrets about the target company.
Analysis of data and information; After the data and information have been collected, this of course must be carried out in-depth analysis to then be compared with the company itself, and look for the best points to be a decision that will support the company’s policies going forward in order to win business competition.
Implementation in the field; After the data and information are analyzed and discussed, it is time to make business decisions and apply them to the country or the company itself.
Industrial espionage is part of competitive intelligence, which is a spying activity by a secret agency regarding industrial developments that occur in other countries. This is done for business competition. Espionage activities are carried out by stealing information and then analyzing industrial potential in other countries. Furthermore, it could be by imitating a developing industry or “infiltrating” into a potential country to get its own benefits. America is one of the countries with great potential in the industrial sector. Due to limited human resources, other countries can easily master the opportunities and various existing projects. You can see that most companies or projects in Indonesia are held by foreigners. Indirectly this is the danger of industrial espionage. The whole world knows that Indonesia is very rich in natural resources. But China has been more developed than the host in Indonesia. China is like that, a country with industrial development that is not “brained”, developing very rapidly. What’s something China can’t do? . . . Everything can be done, the sun can’t. This is the reason China can compete with the US superpower. Quoted from kompas.com Germany alone stated that it had become a “victim of data theft” by China, thus losing the opportunity to develop its industry or losing 53 billion euros in revenue per year.
Countries that have intelligence agencies on average carry out espionage activities such as,
Central intelligence agency (CIA), United States
Secret intelligence service (SIS) or MI6, UK
Mossad, Israel
The ministry off street security (MISS), China, and
Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedk (SVR), Russia.
How is industrial espionage carried out?
Industrial espionage is an activity to obtain as much information as possible about a business or industry opponent in another country. By knowing the opponent’s strategy, a country will easily win the competition. What distinguishes espionage from other intelligence activities, espionage seeks to access the place where information is stored. Usually the most confidential information is with important officials. Therefore, this activity of spying or espionage can be done in various ways. Start by approaching people who have important information with bribes or sexual advances. Until the prey wants to divulge secret information. Espionage activities have a planning stage with clear objectives. then after getting the information must be processed and analyzed first. Only then will it be practiced in their own country to be ready to fight in the advancement of industrial business.