Corporate Espionage: What It Is, Why It's Happening in Your Company, What You Must Do About It

By Ira Winkler

Book Overview

There is widespread misconception in America that industrial espionage is a high-tech crime perpetrated by slick James Bond types or genius computer hackers -- not true! Every year millions of companies lose billions of dollars because their valuable information leaks out through ordinary people and simple, preventable methods.In his new book, Corporate Espionage, information security expert Ira Winkler reveals how he stole billions of dollars in sensitive information from a large corporation in a day and a half while they didn't even know he was inside. Of course he then gave back the information because the target was his client and its executives were paying him to execute a penetration test. But what might really alarm companies is the fact that Winkler steals most of his information by simply asking for it, looking on desk tops, digging through trash, walking into unlocked offices at night or reading internal newsletters that reveal too much. Corporate Espionage instructs companies how to break bad habits and protect themselves from espionage. Readers catch an inside look at:Step-by-step details of foreign and domestic case studies involving KGB agents, the Japanese, German, China, Cuban and Israeli government, and losses from Intel, Boeing, and other major corporations and banksAn interview with the former director of the CIAWhy companies must consider their own employees as the most deadly of all spiesWhy and which apparently friendly countries are the most actively engaged in espionage against the United StatesWhere and how Russia, Germany, Chinese and other major intelligence agencies recruit their agents

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0761508406
• ISBN13: 9780761508403
• Release Date: April 1997
• Publisher: Prima Lifestyles
• Length: 365 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.8" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Cut your security risks with effective countermeasures.

As the current Director of Technology for the National Computer Security Asociation and a former NSA agent (10+ years), Ira Winkler is 'the' individual to address this topic. According to resources such as the FBI, industrial espionage costs US corporations between 24 and 100 billion dollars every year. This book divided into three sections. Part one discusses basic espionage concepts and your companay's 'risk equation.' Spies don't care about the form in which the information they seek comes. It can be from a computer, formal or draft documents, scrap paper or internal correspondence. Aside from domestic spies, there are an estimated 100+ nations that are currently engaging in espionage against US companies. Risk level is determined by Threat x Vulnerability x Value / Countermeasures. Part two contains case studies to show how a breach occurs. One study concerns William Geade and how he stole over a billion dollars worth of information from AMD and Intel. Another study includes the author himself, who hired in (under cover) as a temp at NCC in 1995. Within 2 days Mr. Winkler had compromised 28 of the 29 top development projects exposing many breach points. Part three is titled 'What You Can Do' and goes over many effective countermeasures that you can employ right now. It is jam packed with many ideas, most of them simple, that will tighten your security. Countermeasures are broken down into four areas: Operations, Personell, Physical and Techincal. Five Stars

Excellent!!

This is a book that i would recommend to all system admins and anyone who works with networks and computers. This guy is simply amazing, all it is, being shared experiences from his job. But the tips he gives are priceless... a little social engineering here a little hacking there...BUY this book if you are a cpu afficionado and want to learn even more and protect your systems.

Computer theft is often just in the asking.

Fantastic book! Time and again Mr. Winkler shows the power of social engineering, the use of widely (and readily available)software tools and maybe a little cleverness, used seperately or in combination to foil computer security. But he goes further and in Part III identifies MANY very simple procedures (most at no additional cost) that will foil almost any attack on your computer system.

A "must read" if you value your privacy and information.

Winkler covers this extensive topic in great detail. After reading Corporate Espionage I was left with the realization that being careful and aware of the threats and vulnerabilities around us is vital in this competitive world. The countermeasures that Winkler describes can also be used in all parts of our lives, not just the corporate environment. Corporate Espionage is a "must read" for anyone interested in protecting their personal or corporate information.

A superb introduction to information security

CORPORATE ESPIONAGE should be read by everyone with critical or sensitive information assets. Ira winkler explains risk management principles in a clear manner that appeals to everyone from the smallest home based business person to the CEO's of large corporations. Business people will find the case studies interesting. Information security professionals need more technical books for specific projects; they need Winkler to help them maintain their perspective.