By William Klausman
As published in Journal of Information Ethics, Spring 2007 Vol 16, No 1
McFarland & Co., Inc., Publishers
You're not alone. In fact, I doubt if anyone, upon hearing the terms "Business Intelligence” or “Corporate Espionage,” conjures up an image of a lone spy tiptoeing through a darkened office, armed with a tiny pen that shoots projectiles into a counterspy, causing instant death.
Used interchangeably, the two terms describe the playing field within which I sneak, mostly undetected, the fields within and around the secret boardrooms of corporate America. And it is, most certainly, dangerous. Oh yes, the cloak-and-dagger syndrome is commonplace in the after-hours work environment, as is the clear and present danger of being caught, especially for me, a counterespionage operative.
When clients are threatened by outside attack--spies searching for trade secrets, copyright infringement, internal embezzling, drug dealing partners, product diverting, and other special threats--I am called in to neutralize the attack.
To assure my privacy and flexibility, I own a business from which I can leave at a moment's notice. With appropriate ID, a bit of nerve and a whole lot of luck, I’ve portrayed every profession and occupation imaginable.
On call round the clock, I entertain in a target's nightclub in the evening, and hours later I catch the red-eye to Washington. I infiltrate a target's business one day as an auditor to gain access to their books, and the next day as a janitor to find discarded documented proof in the trash. One moment I am a psychiatrist infiltrating a psychiatric hospital to find proof of patient abuse, and the next day, I am a narc operating a sting operation to trap a druggist as he knowingly fills false prescriptions. From cook’s helper to television newscaster, I do them all and, as far as I know, have only been caught once.
Say, for instance, America's biggest pop manufacturer learns that a spy is after their secret formula. Cola-Time calls me in to evaluate, locate and neutralize the attack…no matter what! In most cases, the intruder is an infiltration specialist, and enters the workplace in any one of any imaginable descriptions. From custodial staff to bank auditor, he is here for one reason, period, and will allow nothing to stand in his way—well almost nothing. The fact that I stop the attacker in his tracks, using whatever counterespionage measures necessary, is what renders me so valuable to my clients.
There are as many counterespionage measures available to me as I can create. Once I identify the mole, and size him up, my approach is limited only by my imagination and, I might add, my sense of humor.
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