Intelligence Chiefs Warn Of Industrial Espionage, Cyber-Theft

The Five Eyes alliance, a coalition of U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand intelligence services, was formed after World War II, to coordinate security efforts. On Oct 7, the domestic intelligence chiefs of the alliance all spoke at the same venue for the first time, an event hosted by the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. As reported in The Record, they warned businesses in their countries and the West in general of a “sharp rise” in attempts by hostile states to steal intellectual property.

MI5’s director general Ken McCallum held his tongue with respect to which states were responsible. The West routinely accuses China of state-sponsored commercial espionage. In 2015, U.S. President Barack Obama and President Xi Jinping of China signed an agreement stating “that neither country’s government will conduct or knowingly support cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property, including trade secrets or other confidential business information, with the intent of providing competitive advantages to companies or commercial sectors.”

Over the next five years, the U.S. National Counterintelligence and Security Center said the FBI was investigating more than 1,000 intellectual property theft cases associated with China, an accusation China denies. In response to British allegations, it officially responded that “rapid progress in science and technology has not been achieved by stealing or robbing others, but with the wisdom and hard work of the Chinese people.”

U.K authorities, including MI5’s National Protective Security Authority and the National Cyber Security Center, have published updated Secure Innovation guidance for start-ups and spin-outs working on “cutting-edge technology.” It covers security measures to protect supply chains, IT networks, and cloud computing.