Characteristics of Competitive Intelligence and Espionage in Enterprises

Abstract

The article investigates the processes of industrial espionage and competitive intelligence as hidden forms of obtaining confidential information of competitors. The purpose of the article is to analyze the features of competitive intelligence and espionage at the enterprises. To this end, the conceptual apparatus of competitive intelligence and industrial espionage and their differences are described, the trends of industrial espionage development at the world level are considered at the examples of the world's largest companies. Using a historical-comparative method, a retrospective analysis of competitive intelligence and espionage at the enterprises was carried out. The manifestations of espionage in the political sphere, in particular, on the example of the international social networking project "WikiLeaks", were analyzed and the consequences of political intelligence have been analyzed. Based on the obtained results, methods have been proposed for dealing with espionage and intelligence at micro and macro levels. It has been proved that in countries with a market economy there has always been espionage and competitive intelligence, the purpose of which is to study the secrets that underlie the achievements and successes of other companies and countries. All sectors of the economy suffer from them, and even strategic companies with a double, military-civilian character are not protected. Active competitive intelligence and espionage exist in the political sphere. Today, the various overlapping crises make politicians ever more likely to turn to behind-thescenes opportunities to get information, ideas, or even direct sabotage of other countries. World experience confirms the inevitable emergence of threats to the country's economic security in the context of the spread of the process of industrial espionage. Today, the task of developing common mechanisms for protection against insider threats is acute. The authors believe that in the future it is necessary to develop methods for assessing the economic efficiency of introducing systems for the protection of commercial information and industrial espionage.