The news of cyber espionage has been making headlines recently. It has caused huge damage to many companies. In industrial cyber espionage, trade secrets and corporate intellectual properties like formulas, product designs, manufacturing processes, etc. are stolen and often given to competitors. This information is also used in connection with military operations or acts of terrorism. This kind of theft usually occurs in manufacturing, chemicals, and pharmaceutical industries where intellectual properties are often more valuable than physical properties.
Examples of industrial cyber espionage
Industries are in constant threat from cybercriminals today. In recent years many giant companies have been the victims of cyber espionage. In November 2018, Tesla filed a case against a cybercriminal for stealing classified photos and videos of important manufacturing systems of Tesla. In 2017, Waymo, as a self-driving car company reported their technology being stolen by a cybercriminal who is an ex-employee of the company. In Apple similar cyber espionage took place and the ex-employee stole confidential files containing diagrams and manuals of Apple’s self-driving car project before joining a Chinese electric car company.
Tips to avoid cyber espionage
It is important to strengthen the overall security structure of the company. There are many ways to do so. These steps can help you to detect and prevent such attacks.
Conduct a risk assessment.
You should find out what company data are most valuable for the company and how much do they worth. Try to assess your trade secret with the products of the competitors. This will give you an idea about who may want to steal the information. Then start building a fence around those data.
Have an effective security policy
You should have a strict security policy in place in a written format. You must mention the policy regarding creating strong passwords, sharing passwords, bringing your own devices to work, detecting email frauds, handling sensitive data, and other things. You should regularly monitor the employees’ activities.
Have an efficient data access policy
Have a policy about who can access the classified data. Only employees that need access to the data for conducting their work must get the access. In case unauthorized employees have to work on the classified data for some reason they should do it under the supervision of another trusted employee.
Secure the infrastructure
You should have a multilayered approach to securing the company network. You should ensure that the classified data is kept separate from the other general corporate data and limit access to the classified data. If you have a secured perimeter and a layered approach then you will be protected from cyber espionage through malware or hacking.
Educate employees
Employees play a big role in the cybersecurity of the company. They should be educated about the importance of using and protecting their passwords. You should let them know about the potential threats that the company may face due to their negligence. You must have a written security policy for the employees and make sure that they adhere to these practices in their daily work.
Do background checks
As the recent cyberespionage in industries that took place is a result of an insider job as well, it is important to do the background checks of everyone you hire. This will minimize the risk of getting a mole in the company who might carry out cyber espionage later on. You should focus on employees who have privileged access to your sensitive data. If you notice a sudden upgrade in the standards of living of any employee, you should be concerned and do a background check again.
Have a proper termination procedure
Before you terminate an employee you must ensure that the employee doesn’t have any access to your company data anymore. There should be a termination procedure where you will address how to obtain the company equipment from the employee, when you will cut off the employees’ access to company data, how you will verify whether the employee has copied or stolen any sensitive company data, and other things.
Monitor employee activities
Pay attention to the restrictions of your country’s legislation. You must continuously monitor the activities of your employees online. An employee monitoring system will allow you to detect if an employee is stealing any data or not. This software will monitor the employees’ browser history, instant messages, file downloads, emails, and other digital activities. If you find anything suspicious, you can take action accordingly.
Conduct vulnerability assessment
You should know the various ways in which cyber attackers can attack your network. You can use software to do vulnerability assessments so that you can address those issues and take necessary steps. The assessment should be automatic and continuous.
Be careful about the policy ‘Bring Your Own Device’
Though many companies look at it as a good solution to reduce company expense, it may lead to major problems. You are not tracking your employee all the time, so you don’t know where else he is taking his device or what he is downloading. If you have the ‘Bring Your Own Device’ policy in place then you must install a management software and device control mechanism installed in the employee’s computer so that there is no data leakage.
Cyber espionage can not only cause loss of intellectual property, but it will also hurt your reputation. You may also get into financial trouble. You must follow the best practices just discussed to prevent such criminal activities in your company. If possible, you should hire an expert from the cyber security companies to detect threats and take appropriate measures.
