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

Ira Winkler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 9, 1997

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

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Ira Winkler, a former analyst with the National Security Agency, contends that American companies lose billions of dollars each year through preventable information leaks. In Corporate Espionage, he shows how much of it is pilfered by unremarkable efforts--looking at memos, sifting through trash, peeking on desktops, or simply asking for it--and provides some advice to stop it. Additional highlights include a variety of illuminating anecdotes and an enlightening look at international subterfuge.

Review

All businesses, from multi-billion dollar corporations to $20,000-a-year mom-and-pop corporations, technically literate or not, are vulnerable to corporate espionage and every company is potentially under attack

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Prima Lifestyles (April 9, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761508406
• ISBN-13: 978-0761508403
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #284,957 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Recommended Reading for CI & Security Professionals, February 14, 2007

By 

Cindy Stevens - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Corporate Espionage: What It Is, Why It's Happening in Your Company, What You Must Do About It (Paperback)

Ira Winkler does a superb job in illustrating methods of collecting 'business intelligence' on companies through the exploitation of basic human weaknesses and technical vulnerabilities. While some of the technical information contained within is now outdated, much of it is still relevant... not to mention the social engineering tactics covered.

The structure of "Corporate Espionage" is ideal, with Winkler discussing espionage concepts, followed by case studies and countermeasures. It almost reads like a manual, and an effective one at that. Winkler worked at NSA for 10 years ---where paranoia is a way of life--- so it is no surprise that he is good at what he does, and that he takes a very methodical approach to handling security issues.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cut your security risks with effective countermeasures., December 24, 2005

By 

Roger Peter Marec (Riverside, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Corporate Espionage: What It Is, Why It's Happening in Your Company, What You Must Do About It (Hardcover)

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

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Insider Threat, and Poor Management = Major Losses, April 8, 2000

By 

Robert D. Steele (Oakton, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Corporate Espionage: What It Is, Why It's Happening in Your Company, What You Must Do About It (Paperback)

Ira, a former National Security Agency professional, made a name for himself in his second career as a corporate electronic security specialist by using a combination of common sense and basic work-arounds to penetrate and download millions if not billions of dollars worth of corporate research and development-always at the company's request, and generally with astonishing results. From his antics as a "temp" hire gaining access within two days, to his more systematic attacks using all known vulnerabilities including factory-shipped system administrator passwords that were never changed, he has exposed in a very practical way the "naked emperor" status of corporate America.