Risk Management: COMPETITOR ESPIONAGE

RISK MANAGEMENT:

Competitor Espionage

RISK MANAGEMENT: COMPETITOR ESPIONAGE

BACKGROUND

A manufacturer of automotive components who had a dominate position in the market was concerned about loss of corporate assets to local competitors. The task was to review and assess company internal prevention processes & procedures, identify areas of weakness and to develop improvements to company security and asset protection programs.

RISK MANAGEMENT: COMPETITOR ESPIONAGE

APPROACH

DEFINATION OF 4 CORE AREAS OF INVESTIGATION

- Physical Security – offices, factories, physical access control, guard force effectiveness, etc.
- HR Issues – clear expectations, recruiting due diligence, proper access control, leadership/”tone at the top”
- IT Systems, laptops, and mobile devices
- Security policies and procedures, control & monitoring

AUDIT OF INTERNAL PROCESSES & PROCEDURES

- Conducted a 2-month audit of their internal processes and procedures

Recommendations

- Recommended corrective action focusing on Physical Security and Control & Monitoring

Implementation

- Implemented numerous corrective programs, including:
  - CCTV, IT server access control, intrusion detection, firewall and anti-spyware, vetting of vendors, visitor security, access control, data storage & disposal procedures

RISK MANAGEMENT: COMPETITOR ESPIONAGE

RESULTS

- No new acts of corporate espionage or theft

Timely Topics To Drive Growth.

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OUR CLIENTS

accessdata

Adler Pelzer Group

Accuride

aseptia

alliance

amercable

americhem

anisa

calient

corning

chemco

climate-master

curtiss-wright

federal-signal

greenheck

flexco

gore

hilite

HJ-Baker

Icee

mascoat

merichem

micromeritics

nanotex

oerlikon

plasticolors

rudolf-group

silfex

sweco

tile-shop

tedia

titeflex

weber

Operational & Commercial Performance: Investigation and Correction of Employee Trade Secrets Theft

RISK MANAGEMENT:

INVESTIGATION AND CORRECTION OF EMPLOYEE TRADE SECRETS THEFT

RISK MANAGEMENT: INVESTIGATION AND CORRECTION OF EMPLOYEE TRADE SECRETS THEFT

BACKGROUND

- A manufacturer of specialty chemicals had lost 70% of company customer base due to TS theft
- The previous Operations Director in China had removed electronic drawings and other IP over a 2-year period, set up a competing company and bribed the purchasing managers to move their purchases to his new company.
- EWA was engaged to investigate the claim and develop counter-actions

RISK MANAGEMENT: INVESTIGATION AND CORRECTION OF EMPLOYEE TRADE SECRETS THEFT

APPROACH

RISK IDENTIFICATION

- Investigation and confirmation of the existence of the new company and the individual’s equity ownership
- EWA obtained product samples and verified a trademark violation

Risk Mitigation

- Recruitment of local Chinese attorneys and the filing of a legal claim against both the company and the individual
- The competitive office, workforce, sub-contractors and customer base visitors were investigated
- EWA contacted the client’s original customer base to inform them of the various illegal actions and acts of corporate espionage
- Legal proceedings cannot be disclosed due to confidentiality restrictions

Long-Term Risk Prevention

- Development of a comprehensive asset protection program

RISK MANAGEMENT: INVESTIGATION AND CORRECTION OF EMPLOYEE TRADE SECRETS THEFT

RESULTS

- 75% of the lost customer base returned to the client within 7 months
- No new acts of corporate espionage or theft