Icho Doc

Corporate Espionage is a growing problem and threat to more companies than you probably think! Below I will dispense some information every business owner should know!

What Is Corporate Espionage?

Espionage is the practice of obtaining information about an organization that is considered secret and confidential without the permission of the information holder themselves. In other words… spying.
Espionage involves accessing the location where the information is actually stored- As in entering an office building to try and seek out the company’s methods and tactics or gaining unauthorized access to a company computer. It also involves contacting the people who know the desired information and trying to get them to slowly divulge it.

How Dangerous Is It?

Corporate Espionage is a serious risk to any business that depends on information. Any ‘spy’ who is targeting a company is seeking inside information that the company depends on for its success. If that outsider is able to gain access to that information, then the company no longer has a leg up on competition, it levels the playing field. To say the very least…

Some examples of information that is often sought after:

o Client List – any list of current and past clients, their contact information, and what products and services they purchased from you.

o Supplier Agreements – information that lets others know what kind of agreements you hold with your suppliers, your relationship with them, and what you are or plan to be using them for.

o Personal Records – records indicating spending habits, income, bank balances and account numbers, commonly called phone numbers, credit card accounts, ect.

o Research Documents – any research history that can help foretell where you plan to take the company in the next few years.

o Prototype Plans – plans, paper work, contracts, or actual physical prototypes of a new product or service you plan to offer.

o A few other examples include : patents, pricing strategies, source code, and unique manufacturing and technological operations.

Any of the above information could be greatly beneficial to the unauthorized individual who has stolen it from you. It can lead to devastating financial effects to a company causing them to lose clients and money to their untrustworthy competitor. The information could also be used for scams, credit card fraud, and blackmail.

Much to the company’s own downfall, security for this coveted information is often an afterthought. Most corporations are developing new technologies faster than they can protect them. Very few companies are spending the time and money to implement the hardware, software, and services required to monitor and protect their information.

How Does It Happen And How Can I Fight It?

Corporate Espionage can happen in a number of ways, but basically it’s any breach of security in your company. Methods range from computer hacking, theft, and intimidation, to dumpster diving and personnel impersonations.

A few basic things you can do to protect yourself:

1. Make employees aware of ‘Social Engineering Ploys.’ Make sure they are familiar with the tactics so they can recognize it when something happens. Set up a procedure for them to follow in the event they think they are a target of a social engineering attack.

2. Make sure you have sufficient physical building security. Your office building houses your employees, files, computers, servers, and all your other valuable information and sources. Invest in video surveillance and make sure it gets checked often.

3. Keep the latest security software on your computers and servers at all times. These are common points of attack for any corporation so it’s key to keep them locked up.

Despite the digital world we live in, dumpster diving is the most common method used to obtain confidential data without the information owner finding out. It’s a messy and primitive method, but is very successful in acquiring trade secrets. But how can that be? Someone can just take your information right out of your garbage can? Yes, dumpster diving is disgusting and totally legal. Once you discard it onto a public street for garbage pickup, it’s totally fair game. Dumpster Divers have been successful in obtaining company phone books, organization charts, memos, company policy manuals, meeting calendars, system manuals, login names and passwords, source code, disks and tapes and much more.

So what can you do?

Use a shredding company! Shred EVERYTHING! No longer is just paper print outs your biggest liability, CD’s, DVD’s, hard drives, servers are all a huge threat to you if they land in the wrong hands. Seek a company who has the ability to successfully destroy any and all confidential matter.

Paper Shredding Business Opportunities are blossoming up everywhere because in recent years, privacy concerns and new policies have forced companies all over the country to invest in paper shredding services. Large corporations and small are in need of shredding services.

Even in many homes, people have purchased small, trash can sized paper shredders for mail and receipts. Most businesses will not be able to shred the material they have by purchasing one of these same machines. First, the small machines are not capable of the volume. Secondly, companies in general are downsizing staff and it is unlikely that they are going to pay someone to feed documents into a tiny shredder all day.

That is where you come in. Investing in a paper shredding business now is like buying a gold mine. The list of documents the Federal Government says must be destroyed is getting lengthier everyday. Every time you sign a document, be it a job application or a credit card receipt, there is a time limit that the receiving company has to hold that document. After that time limit, they are required by law to destroy, or shred, that document.

Large corporations can take in thousands of signed resumes’ a year. Restaurants and retail outlets that have not gone to electronic signature devices can have thousands of credit card receipts a month. Think of all the banking records that come due for destruction every week. Now think about the amount of tax documents that need to be rotated and destroyed every year. These are just a few examples of the growing necessity of paper shredding businesses for confidential document destruction.

Mobile shredders are a fantastic investment, as the shredding device is built into the back of a large truck trailer for onsite paper shredding. This allows the shredding company owner to go to the client for onsite shredding. Companies spend thousands of dollars warehousing these documents that often get kept years past their required time because no one wants to deal with all that paper. Mobile paper shredding would allow you to go directly to their warehouse or storage facility. Clients will appreciate not having to pay someone else to have all of this information brought to you.

Even in this electronic age, there are still things that will be in paper form. Recorded documents and legal papers are still required to have pen and ink signature. Many companies are even having computer components such as hard drives and floppy disks shredded for security purposes. The federal government requires such stringent privacy laws due to identity theft and fraud, that nearly any document with a name and address on it must be destroyed after a certain period of time. This continuing process virtually guarantees that a confidential paper disposal service would thrive in the right hands.

Time limits for document destruction will play in your favor as well. Nearly every set of documents has a different holding date. For example, resumes and cover letters have a hold date of one year, if the applicant was not hired. Hired applicants can have part of their file destroyed in three years, for example, the application and some privacy statements. Corporations as well as individuals are required to keep tax records on file for three years. Companies that process financial data, such as banks and paid tax services, will always have documents that are in need of destruction. This gives you the perfect opportunity for a home employment paper shredding business.

Things to consider when thinking about a paper shredding business will depend on what type of service you wish to offer. Having a fixed location where people can bring their records to you for destruction is one idea. However, it is worth considering purchasing a mobile shredding unit in addition to this or even as the sole business operation. Mobile paper shredding will allow you to be even more flexible to your clients needs.

The demand in this industry will only be growing in the coming years as laws and policies change. It is clear that this is a growing enterprise. Be it on site shredding with a mobile shredding unit, or a permanent paper shredding location, you can be sure that there is a public in need of this critical service.

Document version control software is used extensively in the Information technology industry. It is used to track and store documents as well as doing the version control for the same. Why is version control important? There might be several versions of the same document being used by multiple users. And if there is no centralized storage of the document there would be utter confusion about the correct version of the document to be used. So, there is a need for having software that keeps track of the different versions and ensures that the latest version is available with the users.

How does document version control software work? First, it stores the document in the database and lets users check out the version with a lock on the same so that other users cannot make changes to it. Thus, it ensures that the user who is editing the document will alone have the correct version and once he is through, he can then check the document back into the database. So, concurrent updates are prevented and this ensures consistency of versions as well as the record of all the updates to the document made by the different users.

Apart from the consistency benefits, version control is also useful in preventing unauthorized access to the document. Only users who have the appropriate rights can edit the document and make changes to the same. It also ensures that the previous versions are available in case the latest version is lost due to a technical error. Thus any version can be retrieved. Any software company has standard document version control software that is either purchased from off the shelf products or is customized to the needs of the organization. In this way, the organization can specify its needs and get the same fulfilled by using the software.