Publisher's Synopsis
American companies are renowned as being the most innovative in the world. Companies of every size and in every industry, from manufacturing to software to biotechnology to aerospace, own large portfolios of legally protected trade secrets they have developed and innovated. In some cases, the ''secret sauce'' may be a company's most valuable asset. The theft of these secrets can lead to devastating consequences. For small businesses it can be a matter of life and death. The risk of trade secret theft has been around as long as there have been secrets to protect. There is a reason why Coca-Cola has kept its formula locked away in a vault for decades. But in recent years, the methods used to steal trade secrets have become more 2 sophisticated. Companies now must confront the reality that they are being attacked on a daily basis by cyber criminals who are determined to steal their intellectual property. As Attorney General Holder has observed, there are two kinds of companies in America: Those that have been hacked and those that do not know that they have been hacked. Today a criminal can steal all of the trade secrets a company owns from thousands of miles away without the company ever noticing. Many of the cyber attacks we are seeing are the work of foreign governments. China and other nations now routinely steal from American businesses and give the secrets to their own companies- their version of competition. And let us be clear. We do not do the same to them. We are now going through a healthy debate in America about the scope of government surveillance, but there is no dispute about one thing: Our spy agencies do not steal from foreign businesses to help American industry. While cyber attacks are increasing, traditional threats remain. Company insiders can still walk off with trade secrets to sell to the highest bidder. Competitors still steal secrets through trickery or by simply breaking into a factory or office building. It is impossible to determine the full extent of the
