QCC Interscan

The Incident Response Specialists

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A decade of corporate espionage

The last ten years have been interesting times for corporate espionage.
Eavesdropping technology has become cheaper and more sophisticated and the
stakes have got bigger than ever. Here is a round-up of some of the key
corporate spying cases that have been reported over the last decade.

Back in 2001 it all seemed so genteel. In August 2001, Fortune magazine
reported that Procter & Gamble voluntarily admitted to hiring Vietnam war
veterans to spy on rivals Unilever. The aim had been to get inside
information on Unilever's American hair-care products business.

Then it all went quiet for a few years until early 2007 when software
engineer Hanjuan Jin, a former employee of Motorola was detained at O'Hare
airport in Chicago attempting to fly to Beijing with more than 1,000
confidential documents allegedly stolen from her previous employer. This
sparked an investigation that is still ongoing. A number of others have also
been accused in connection and in May 2009 one defendant was accused of
running file destruction software on his home computers after he had been
ordered by the Court to turn over documentary evidence. The case continues.

In the same year, retail giant Wal-Mart apologised to the New York Times
after apparently recording conversations between its employees and a
journalist. The company fires the technician who taped the conversation. He
in turn accused his former employee of systematic spying on critics, board
directors, stockholders and business consultants.

2007 was turning out to be a busy year for espionage with the most high
profile story being the disqualification of Ron Dennis'sMcLaren-Mercedes
Formula One team. They were kicked out of the constructors' championship and
fined $100m for spying on the Ferrari team's cars. The fine was the largest
ever seen in motor sport.

Two years later, Retailer Sears was accusation by the Federal Trade
Commission of spying on the web use and online shopping habits of its own
customers. Despite being caught with a program which collected all the
details of eall internet browsing sessions which was installed when clients
joined 'My SHC Community' Sears managed to evade punishment and escaped with
a very gentle slap on the wrist.

The same year (2009) we heard about the spat between Hilton Hotels and
Starwood. As you may recall, It was alleged that more than 10,000 documents
were stolen by Hilton in an attempt to replicate the success of a luxury
hotel brand owned by Starwood.

Then, at the very end the decade Hamburg's "Der Spiegel" reported that the
personal details of 17 million German T-Mobile customers had been stolen. In
the UK, thousands more T-Mobile customers learned that their information
too had been stolen and sold to a rival.

In November 2010, Greenpeace filed a lawsuit in the US accusing the
plastics, chemicals and agricultural conglomerate Dow Chemical of hiring a
private security firm to sift through its rubbish bins.

So in the last decade, data theft, (or at least allegations of spying) Have
hit automotive, electronics, chemical, retail, leisure and motor sport
sectors. And of course this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Fighting back against the data thieves is all about understanding how data
breaches occur in other companies and the actions to take to stop them
happening to you. This is where external information security consultants
such as QCC Interscan can really help, so call us today to discuss your
information management needs.

Incident Response - Act Now

Act now if you suspect that you are under surveillance.

1. Cease all sensitive communications.
2. Remove yourself from the target area
3. Call QCC Interscan from a payphone on +44 0207 205 2100

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Technical Surveillance Counter Measures (TSCM)

Providers of world class TSCM (bug sweeping) services Globally. We offer professional and effective counter surveillance to keep vour valuable information safe from prying eyes.
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High Net Worth Individuals

As a high level company executive, celebrity or high net worth individual, your privacy is important. Our specialist services include TSCM (bug sweeping) services, covering residential sites and executive vehicles. We can conduct security inspections and review services for ocean going yachts, private planes, and executive motor vehicles.
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Specialist Vehicle Search

As part of our security inspection service for high profile company executives and high net worth individuals, we offer an extended security inspection service for executive vehicles. This includes all types of yachts, executive cars, limousines and private executive jets. 

We have completed increasing numbers of counter surveillance inspections and physical security reviews globally of numerous marine vessels, executive jets and company vehicles.
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Physical Security Review

This service inspects and reports on all aspects of physical security including locks, access control, CCTV, waste management, executive transportation and asset protection.  The physical security review will also cover particular areas clients direct our attention to.
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Tiger Testing Services

Tiger Testing is a special type of vulnerability test that originated in the United States Air Force who use it to test air base defences.

Commercial Tiger Tests are beneficial to companies and organisations to highlight true physical, procedural or technical vulnerability and are especially useful in the maintenance of particularly valuable assets.
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GSM Telephone Evaluation

QCC Interscan has a dedicated telephone forensics unit offering an exclusive service to clients who are worried that their personal mobile telephones are being secretly monitored. 

Many spy shops and on line surveillance equipment suppliers offer software packages that monitor mobile telephone conversations and text messages by an unauthorised agent. These phone bugging software packages are very difficult to detect without specialist equipment and knowledge.
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High profile sports organisations

High profile sports organisations and venues are known targets for illicit surveillance. Boardrooms, changing rooms, executive suites and other areas are all vulnerable when big money is at stake.
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