Few people would dispute how significant a role technology plays in our lives and in defending a nation. Many believe that technology has become the foundation for our economic and military engine. Without a strong technology base we as a nation are extremely vulnerable. This brief will cover technology warfare as one of the 15 modalities of Unrestricted Warfare (URW).
The concept of technology warfare is to gain a technological or economic advantage over your adversary through the unlawful acquisition of technology, information about technology or information about the technical capabilities of an adversary.
Objectives:
- Define technology warfare
- Present a threat analysis of technology warfare
- Define offensive and defensive modes of technology warfare
The idea of technology warfare was first defined in the late 1990s in a book that defines Unrestricted Warfare. The use of technology warfare allows nations and corporations to avoid the high costs of research and development while exploiting the benefits of ill-gotten assets. Technology warfare is defined as the acquisition of technology or intellectual property that can create an economic or military advantage for the acquiring entity. Intellectual Property (IP) refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce, which include patents, trademarks, service marks, trade dress, copyrights, and trade secrets.
Intellectual Property is an asset that has value just like other kinds of property. Intellectual property needs protection from theft and misuse. Intellectual Property theft is not new but it is easier than ever before to acquire IP illegally. The ever-increasing influence of technology in everyday life has made the "trade secrets" behind the new technologies highly valuable in today's global marketplace.
Intellectual property theft costs the U.S. economy hundreds of billions of dollars in losses every year. In one study, the estimate reaches $1.5 trillion in losses annually. Intellectual Property theft includes alleged theft of copyrighted, patented or registered ideas, proposals, working drafts or other specialized, technical, medical or business information.
Over the last several years, there has also been an increasing trend in the theft of physical assets, proprietary data, business information and intellectual property in general. Nearly half of the Fortune 1000 companies reported losses last year. This is not a new problem. But, what has changed is how valuable IP has become and how available it is because of computer and information networks. Organizations must decide upfront how much risk they are willing to take and then design a proper security program to protect their assets.
NOTE: Intellectual property is at the core of any business. As much as 80% of a company's value can be in its intellectual property. The result of confidential manufacturing processes, financial information, customer lists, digital source code, marketing strategies, research data, or any other compilation of information used to efficiently operate a business or to obtain competitive advantage ending up in the wrong hands could be disastrous to an enterprise.
Perhaps the most famous example of technology warfare from a military standpoint was the incident where a Soviet fighter Pilot was persuaded to defect and bring with him the 2,000 mph Mig-25 Foxbat in 1976. One of the more recent cases of technology warfare for competitive / economic gain is represented in a recent case involving Corning Inc. In this case a fired Corning Inc. employee was sentenced to four years in federal prison for stealing company trade secrets and selling them to a rival business in Taiwan.
NOTE: On Wednesday, September 21, 2005, U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez unveiled initiatives to fight intellectual property theft.
A U.S. government investigation shows that the number of cases involving China and its middlemen, who have illegally obtained sensitive or classified U.S. weapons technology is growing. In the past few years, Chinese agents illegally purchased or were caught trying to steal night-vision technology, restricted electronic components, embargoed components for precision-guided missiles, radar and electronic warfare, and communications systems, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials.
Theft of intellectual property is not limited to industry and defense sectors. Mayra Justine Trujillo-Cohen was sentenced in October 1998 to 48 months in prison for stealing proprietary software from Deloitte-Touche, where she worked as a consultant, and passing it off as her own. In another case, Caroll Lee Campbell, the circulation manager of the Gwinette Daily Post (GDP), offered to sell proprietary business and financial information of his employer to lawyers representing a rival paper locked in bitter dispute with the GDP.
Technology and the information about the technology must be protected, particularly from criminal conspirators and foreign governments. Steps must be taken in order to preserve the healthy competitiveness of business and industry and promote free enterprise in the marketplace. In a recent survey of 150 research and development companies involved in high technology industries, 48 percent indicated they had been the target of trade secret theft. Below you will find the top ten areas targeted by foreign espionage agents.
