“The pace of foreign economic collection and industrial espionage activities against major U.S. corporations and U.S. government agencies is accelerating,” states the report, produced by the Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive. “Foreign intelligence services, corporations, and private individuals increased their efforts in 2009-2011 to steal proprietary technologies, which cost millions of dollars to develop and represented tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in potential profits.”
Topping the list of proprietary information prized by these cyberspies are: information and communications technology; military technologies for marine systems and aerospace/aeronautics; clean energy technologies; health care and pharmaceuticals information; and agricultural technology. Business information about supplies of scarce natural resources or data that would offer foreigners an advantage in negotiations with U.S. companies and the U.S. government are also coveted.
