UK: Deloitte in the counter-espionage game

The international consultancy Deloitte has announced the launch of a new corporate counter-espionage team within its Security, Privacy & Resilience department. Corporate espionage is on the rise, and Deloitte has cautioned others that this sort of spying can have severe effects on a company’s brand reputation, competitive advantage and market growth.

Deloitte’s new counter-espionage force will be headed up by Steve Cummings, a former director of the Centre for the Protection of the National Infrastructure (CPNI). His team will be composed of consultants (of course) with experience in both government and business intelligence.

After what one might argue to be a more far-reaching intelligence role, Cummings isn’t taking the Deloitte gig lightly:

“In a globalized world where the threat from terrorism seems more pressing, it is easy for companies to make the mistake of thinking that espionage carried out by competitors or states is a thing of the past.

“Yet many businesses face a greater threat of attacks against valued information which can have a direct effect on their commercial success and longer term business strategies, or against intellectual property which has a high commercial value.”

Cummings believes that for companies to really fight corporate espionage successfully, they must train their staff appropriately on matters of security and combine this education with “effective technical and non-technical controls.”

pic courtesy of zdnet.com