In a world that increasingly measures national power and security in economic as well as military terms, the United States continues to be threatened by the theft of proprietary economic Overview of the Threat to US National Security I n f o rmation typically is protected under both state and federal laws. Commonly referred to as “trade secrets,” this States to compete in the world marketplace and could have a detrimental effect on the US economy, ultimately weakening national security. May be unclassified, the loss of this information could adversely affect the ability of the United Generally, such information concerns US business and economic resources, activities, research and development, policies, and critical technologies. Industry however, it is often not easy to determine what is foreign government-sponsored espionage, a necessary requirement under the Economic Espionage Act, Title 18 U.S.C., SectionĪnother term used in this report is proprietary technology and economic information, theĭefinition of which is information not within the public domain and that which the owner has Some countries have a long tradition of ties between government and To obtain commercially useful information, such as information available on the Internet.Īlthough some legal actions may be a precursor to clandestine collection, they do not constitute This definition does not extend to activity of privateĮntities conducted without foreign government involvement, nor does it pertain to lawful efforts Industrial espionage is defined as activity conducted by a foreign government or by a foreignĬompany with direct assistance of a foreign government against a private US company for the Service identify and fill information gaps, which in some cases may be a precursor to economic This, however, can help a foreign intelligence Legal may harm US industry but is not espionage. Aggressive intelligence collection that is entirely open and Policy information proprietary economic information or critical technologies.” This definitionĮxcludes the collection of open and legally available information that constitutes the overwhelming majority of economic collection. “the unlawful or clandestine targeting or acquisition of sensitive financial, trade, or economic This report NACIC will heed to the US Attorney General’s definition of economic espionage as There are no agreed upon definitions of economic or industrial espionage. These activities conducted outside US territory are more In addition to activities in the United States, foreign collectors also operateĪgainst US economic interests in their respective countries and in thirdĬountries. Information systems, sensors, lasers, electronics, and aeronautic systems Sought-after critical technology categories in 1999 in rank order were Foreign counties continue to target items in all 18 categories of theĭepartment of Defense Militarily Critical Technologies List.Marketplaces and the corresponding spread of technology with dualĪpplications have contributed to a significant increase in both incentivesĪnd opportunities for economic espionage. The increasing value of trade secrets in the global and domestic.Individuals to acquire US proprietary economic information: Showed no reduction in attempts by foreign government, corporations, and Information obtained during the past year This annual examination by US government agencies of the threat of foreignĮconomic collection and industrial espionage is conducted in compliance Experts say the latest amendments to the sweeping anti-espionage law could criminalize "a range of mundane tasks related to information gathering such as the work of journalists and due diligence research on companies," per the Times.Learning from the Annual Report to Congress on Foreign Economic Collection and Industrial Espionage The changes expanded the law's definition of espionage to include any "documents, data, materials or items related to national security and interests." Cyber attacks on government organizations or "critical information infrastructures" are also included, CNN summarizes. Last month, China approved amendments to the existing counterespionage law, which will go into effect on July 1. In March, a Japanese business executive was arrested for suspected espionage, "the 17th Japanese national to have been detained in China since the counter-espionage law was introduced in 2014," CNN says. Leung's conviction comes as China ramps up efforts to curtail "what it sees as a growing threat of spies through a wave of raids, inspections, and arrests targeting businesses with foreign ties as well as individuals," the Times adds. "Courts are controlled by the ruling Communist Party." Cases involving spying or "other sensitive political issues are often shrouded in secrecy" in China, The New York Timesnotes. Authorities and state media have not disclosed much about Leung's detention or the court proceedings leading to his sentence.
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