Laser devices, sim cards, and plugs key implements in corporate espionage

Lawyers have been warned that competitors may use security companies, private investigators, and disgruntled insiders to gain access to confidential and lucrative client information.

Speaking at ARK Group's 12th annual risk management for law firms conference in central London, Jeff Jenkinson, managing director of Corporate Information Group, said such attacks were not science fiction, or the plot of a Hollywood blockbuster, but were instead a clear and present danger to businesses worldwide.

Many companies were said to be on the receiving end of such technical surveillance. However, the gathering of much confidential data goes unreported in the press due to the huge reputational damage that goes alongside the negative publicity.

Law firms were also said to be an attractive target for corporate espionage due, in part, to the highly lucrative and sometimes controversial litigation undertaken by lawyers, Jenkinson opined.

Jenkinson showed an incredulous gathering of compliance lawyers a selection of spy devices used by corporate spooks to gain information. Many devices were as small as a smart phone sim card secreted away into everyday office debris such as standard three-pronged power plugs.

The anti-surveillance expert also explained how modified laser devices could be used to listen in on conversations through exterior windows.

Jenkinson advised firms to consider installing sophisticated anti-surveillance software in sensitive areas of the business, such as jammers in boardrooms, to guard against corporate attacks.

'Just like other security measures the protection against electronic eavesdropping attacks requires constant vigilance,' explained Jenkinson.

The security expert also warned of employees who may take information out of the office to use in the event that they are fired or made redundant, as well as cleaners and other support staff who are often given unlimited access to a business and whose comings and going are paid little attention.

'Pilfering data has become endemic in our culture,' remarked Jenkinson. 'Some 85 per cent of people admit to taking data because it might be useful in the future, such as in their new job.'

Also speaking at the event, Ashley Roughton, a barrister specialising in intellectual property at Nabarro, said the latest figures suggested that the average cost to a business following a data breach was £2.3m.

Roughton agreed that employee fraud or vengeance was common in cyberattacks against companies: 'If you want to see who is throwing knives at your back then you don't need to look far.'

John van der Luit-Drummond is deputy editor for Solicitors Journal
john.vanderluit@solicitorsjournal.co.uk | @JvdLD