Private Eyes use Spyware for Industrial Espionage

By Nathan Statz

April 30, 2008: A team of Israeili private investigators has been jailed on industrial espionage charges for their use of spyware to steal commercial secrets.

Four members of the Israeli Modi’in Ezrahi private investigation firm have been found guilty of using a Trojan to fleece commercial information. Asaf Zlotovsky, a manager at the firm was jailed for 19 months, with two other employees given 18 and 9 month sentences.

The Trojan Horse itself was traced back to London-based couple Michael and Ruth Haephrati who were jailed over their involvement in the case in 2006.

Security firm, Sophos is warning businesses to be on their guard against rogue agencies who offer up information on their competitors.

"It's understandable that firms would want information on what their business rivals are planning to do, and try to seek a competitive advantage over them. What isn't acceptable is to hire firms that will use illegal methods, such as computer spyware, to gather that information," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.

According to Cluley, regular cyberciminals may be attempting to steal your employee’s credit card details, but spyware can also be used for corporate espionage designed to steal your business plans and customer databases.

"Firms need to be very careful about the third parties they hire to help them grow their business, and seek assurances that their partners will not be behaving unethically or illegally. If they do not, the consequences could not only be a swathe of bad publicity, but also a spell in prison."

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