Industrial Espionage | Dual Employment of Employees

It often puzzles business owners why a competitor is able to offer a product that their own employees have spent years developing — sometimes even before the original company has launched it. Equally shocking is the discovery that sensitive internal company data is being spread within the industry or even publicly in the media. Such events usually indicate that there are human or technical security gaps within your business.

 

The IHK-certified detectives of Kurtz Commercial Investigations Munich help identify these vulnerabilities: +49 89 7007 4301.

Sometimes Walls Have Not Only Ears but Eyes Too

In some cases, internal company data becomes accessible to unauthorised third parties due to weaknesses in IT security. For this reason, a thorough review of the security standards of your computers, tablets, smartphones and IT infrastructure is recommended. However, in most cases — whether consciously or unconsciously — one of your own employees is responsible for an unwanted information leak. The inadvertent scenario could be something like an employee receiving a USB stick as a gift at a trade fair and plugging it into the company computer without thinking, allowing spyware or malware to infect the system undetected.

 

Much more frequently, though, employees act intentionally. Their motives vary: perhaps the employee was passed over for a promotion, denied a salary increase, or seeks revenge for another grievance. It is also possible that a competitor offered them a lucrative deal and they accepted a bribe. The reasons for disloyal employee behaviour are numerous, and opportunities to cause damage always exist for those who deliberately aim to harm your company. If you suspect an employee of betraying you, contact the detectives of our Munich commercial investigation team promptly: kontakt@kurtz-detektei-muenchen.de.

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Frustrated employees are potential risks, as they are particularly susceptible to immoral offers from competitors.

Prevention | Surveillance | Undercover Insertion — Investigative Methods

The risks posed by employee industrial espionage and the resulting consequences are far-reaching: bribery, bid rigging, and other unlawful competitive or cartel-violating agreements by employees can place management in serious jeopardy. Beyond legal consequences, the potential reputational damage can also result in significant financial losses.

 

It is therefore essential to both inspect the security measures of your company and thoroughly vet your current and prospective employees. Our commercial investigators in Munich examine the background of the subject, discreetly contact former employers under an appropriate and unobtrusive pretext if necessary, and conduct highly professional surveillance. In some cases, it may be unavoidable to insert one of our investigators as an employee to observe the target more closely. This case-specific approach incurs higher detective costs, which is why a detailed consultation including a strategic discussion and cost-benefit analysis is essential.