A Growing Problem..

Industrial espionage or corporate espionage is espionage conducted for commercial purposes instead of national security purposes.

The term is distinct from legal and ethical activities such as examining corporate publications, websites, patent filings, and the like to determine the activities of a corporation (this is normally referred to as competitive intelligence). Theoretically the difference between espionage and legal information gathering is clear. In practice, it is quite difficult to sometimes tell the difference between legal and illegal methods. Especially if one starts to consider the ethical side of information gathering, the border becomes even more blurred and elusive of definition.

Industrial espionage describes activities such as theft of trade secrets, bribery, blackmail, and technological surveillance. As well as spying on commercial organizations, governments can also be targets of commercial espionage—for example, to determine the terms of a tender for a government contract so that another tenderer can underbid.

Industrial espionage is most commonly associated with technology-heavy industries, particularly the computer and automobile sectors.

Espionage takes place in many forms. In short, the purpose of espionage is to gather knowledge about (an) organization(s). A spy may be hired, or may work for oneself.

 

 

Eavesdropping Devices

An Eavesdropping Device is typically considered to be a piece of electronic equipment allowing its user to gain intelligence through the interception of targeted communications. An eavesdropping device does not exclusively refer to the interception of audio communications and may also refer to the capture of visual images, as well as data.

Most eavesdropping devices are sold over the Internet by spy shops and spy stores. Before you buy an eavesdropping device you should be aware of the legal issues regarding eavesdropping. You should also aware that many products sold at your local electronics store can also be used as an eavesdropping device for much less money than the products sold at many spy shops.

While some eavesdropping devices are legal to own, others are not and you should talk to legal counsel before buying any type of device that has the sole purpose of being used for surreptitious eavesdropping. Regardless of the eavesdropping device use, you should be aware that it is a felony in most countries to eavesdrop on someone who has a reasonable expectation of privacy. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it is illegal to record your own conversations with someone. However, to eavesdrop on individuals who believe that their communication is private is completely different and usually illegal.