Join us on an electrifying episode as we dive deep into the shadowy world of intellectual property theft with the highly esteemed FBI El Paso Supervisory Special Agent Nicole Adams. In this episode, SSA Adams is shedding light on the covert operations and ingenious tactics employed by cunning criminals who seek to exploit and profit from stolen intellectual property. This episode exposes the hidden dangers that threaten innovation and creativity in today's interconnected world. Drawing from her vast expertise and experience, SSA Adams unravels the intricate web of intellectual property theft, revealing the staggering financial implications and the devastating effects on industries and individuals alike. Learn about the relentless pursuit of justice as FBI agents tirelessly work to dismantle these illicit operations, ensuring the protection of intellectual property rights. You’ll gain valuable insights into the methods used by intellectual property thieves, the profound impact on the economy, and the ever-evolving challenges faced by law enforcement agencies worldwide. Discover the vital role technology plays in both enabling and combating these crimes and get a glimpse into the future of intellectual property protection. Whether you're an entrepreneur, an artist, or simply curious about the intersection of crime and innovation, this episode is a must-listen. SSA Adams will leave you inspired and armed with knowledge to recognize the signs of intellectual property theft, empowering you to safeguard your ideas and creations. Don't miss this extraordinary opportunity to hear from one of the FBI's top experts on intellectual property crimes. Tune in to "The Silent Theft: Unmasking Intellectual Property Crimes" now and join us in the fight against this silent but pervasive threat!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Welcome back, supervisory special agent andNicole Adam. Hey Monica, great to
be back. Thank you for havingme, Thank you, thank you.
This is a really important topic tome, and I know this is probably
going to be a two part seriesbecause there's so much to cover. But
please, before we get started,please tell everyone a little bit about yourself
again. I'm Nicole Adams. I'ma supervisory special Agent for the l passle
(00:23):
FBI, and I am the supervisorof what we call the National Security Program
and I work counterintelligence. And withcounterintelligence, we focus on intellectual properties,
economic espionage, theft of trade secretsprimarily. But today we're going to be
discussing intellectual properties. So hopefully youenjoy Yes, thank you, thank you
(00:45):
too much. So we're gonna goahead, get right into it. Can
you provide us with an overview ofthe current state of intellectual property theft in
the United States and how it affectsbusinesses and individuals. Absolutely, let's get
started. But first discuss what isan intellectual property? Yes, yes,
definitely should have been the first thingthat I ask. Now, First of
(01:06):
all, an intellectual property protection it'sone in domestical or foreign companies try to
illegally acquire your company's information. That'smore of a basic terminology. But we're
going to drill down into what isa trade secret, Like, for instance,
the Coca Cola formula is a tradesecret. KFC's covenant recipe that would
(01:26):
be a trade secret. Now,the FBI's intellectual properties investigations focused on theft
of trade secret like I previously said, and copyright infringements on products that can
impact people's health and safety. Nowthink about copyright. We're gonna sort of
delve into two different areas here copyright. So almost like when you get movies,
(01:48):
the bootleg movies, that's a copyrightinfringement because the studio has not given
you permission to use their imaging,their likeness, the overall quality of their
movie. Because what they want theywant you to come in and either watch
the movie and they get that revenue, or second of all, by a
legitimate DVD, or to legitimately downloadthat movie or that song and they're going
(02:12):
to get the benefits and the revenuefrom that streaming of that whatever of that
movie or to download. So whatrole does the FBI play in investigating intellectual
property? Pretty much our roles arelike this, but intellectually property theft and
commercial fraud. Currently, we haveinitiated one three hundred and sixty seven cases.
(02:32):
Now this was in fiscal year twentytwo. We haven't compelled the numbers
for fiscal year twenty three. Solet me explain that. Because when you
think of thirteen hundred cases, overthirteen hundred cases, it's not El Paso
alone, So let's make sure that'sacross the bureau's fifty six field offices.
That's still a lot of cases.But what I would like to say,
(02:53):
there are so many other cases thatwe have not opened that are currently ongoing
that one we may not have knowledgeabout, or two, sometimes the theft
of trade secrets or intellectual properties isso overwhelming. Literally every agent in the
FBI could work a IP case,as I'll say, and we still probably
(03:14):
wouldn't have enough agents. But asof fiscal year twenty two, we have
arrested five hundred and forty people accusedof theft of trade secrets or IP.
We've had three hundred and nine indictments, one hundred and twenty nine people have
been convicted, and we have seizedtwo hundred two thousand, three hundred and
eighty six incidents of seizure. Andwhat's the sad thing about it is that
(03:38):
there's been over a billion dollars ofloss to the US economy. Now what
our trade secrets? Okay, let'sthink about this. Trade secrets are all
forms of types of financial, business, scientific, technical, economic engineering,
and the list can go on.And as previously said, I said compilation,
(04:00):
formulas, patterns, prototypes. Let'ssay, for instance, Monica,
if you were trying to develop anew flying car. All right, you've
worked very hard. You and yourcompany have, let's say, put in
billions of dollars or millions of dollarsin this prototype. All of a sudden,
a foreign adversary comes in steal yourprototype. Now what they're doing is
(04:25):
making this car in another country.And how much assets have you lost?
You lost money because that company didnot have to do the research and development
that you and your company had todo. Second of all, i'm sure
your company would have employees. Sonow you have no employees because that other
company is making this product at acheaper at a cheaper price point. So
(04:49):
you have no prototype, you haveno employees, you have no revenue because
now no one is buying whatever youwere trying to make that new flying car.
So all that money went overseas,So how did that damage you economically
significantly? Right? Yeah, Sothat's that's when you gotta I know,
sometimes people think, oh, it'sa victimless crime. I just got a
(05:12):
new Louis Vaton bag from the swatmeed, I just got this new Groucci
bag. But that does affect thateconomy because you're not paying the full price
for that item, and it causesa lot of problems. So it's intellectual
property theft primarily a domestic issue.Like I know you just mentioned like foreign
(05:35):
government. Correct, So in whatways does the FBI worked with other agencies
and organizations to help protect their intellectualproperty, including nationally? I guess okay,
Well, first of all, let'stalk about this um, the Economic
Espionage Act of nineteen ninety six.Now, this Act was signed into law
(05:55):
by President Clinton, and it makesthe theft or misappropriation of trade seekers criminal
offense. Sometimes people think, oh, they stole it, it's just the
cost of doing business. But nowyou can possibly go to jail, you
can possibly be fined. It's uniquebecause it's the first federal law to brawy
define and severely punish such misappropriations andfat Currently we're working with Homeland Security as
(06:20):
far as another agency, and thisis called i'm gonna say IP for short,
but it's Intellectual Property Protects, whichis a national Intellectual Property rights coordination
center, and it's an outreach initihitionutilizing the resources and expertise as said of
Homeland Security, and what we tryto do is bring together public and private
(06:41):
sector partners to help small and mediumsized business enterprises defend themselves from IP theft,
infringement, crimes, and fraud andcyber intrusion. Because sometimes it's not
always like I know, I madethe analogy of a purse, but sometimes
companies can hack into your system andstill we'll go with the prototype again.
So we have to raise awareness that'sone about the scope of intellectual property theft
(07:06):
and determine the effects because again youmay think that, oh, they just
stole this and it's not really goingto affect me, and as I gave
you an example, it really doesbecause it now it messages with your bottom
line and you can be undercut bya competitor that now is going to make
the same thing that you've worked sohard for a Second of all, we
(07:28):
need to identify and assist business vulnerableto IP loss, and sometimes we don't
know. So if you think thatyour intellectual property has been compromised, loss
stolen, misappropriated, then you needto call the FBI or again or we're
working jointly also too with the Homelandsecurity investigations. Also too, we need
(07:49):
to support IP feft reporting. Next, we also need to establish a community
oriented partnership to collaboratively prevent and respondto IP loss. So that's what we're
trying to do, okay, andI'm going to get back to that a
little bit later on, but especiallyabout the type you know, not necessarily
(08:09):
the types, but when it comesto the big company and the smaller company.
So what are the most common typesof IP depths and which industries are
most effective? Wow? But whatI want to do just real quick,
I'm gonna go circle back to thequestion you ask me, because I want
people to know with our partnership,which eighths your side is free? Okay,
And I think sometimes when people docome to the FBI, we are
(08:31):
public servants here. So if youyou don't have to pay us, I
mean, well your tax dollars do. But I think sometimes people think,
oh, if I go to theFBI, they're not going to help me.
I'm not going to sit and saythat we're going to help every case,
because that's not that's not even feasible. But if you think your intellectual
property have been stolen, contact us. You don't have to reach out to
this organization who want to charge youfive hundred dollars to review your your your
(08:54):
theft or loss. You contact us, free, your charge, your tax
dollars. Already pay for it.It's already what we do. Okay,
Yes, what are the most commontypes of IDA deaths and which industrings are
most effective? Well, you havea wide ranging variety up like say,
for instance, we can say mostof it is technology that is the most
(09:18):
common type of theft. And alsoyou got to think about things that affect
health and safety. Like health andsafety, you're thinking, okay, well
what is that. Like Let's say, for instance, if you had Good
ear tires. Good has a certainstandard on what certain tires have to be
tested. But if you buy let'ssay, some bootleg tires, Now,
the safety of your family and yougetting on the road with tires that have
(09:41):
not been tested properly because they thoughtwhen they stole this, meaning they the
bad guy who thought when they stoleyour your compilations or your your trade seekers
on these tires, that it wouldbe up to good your standard. But
it's not. You get to blowout immediately, you know, you get
an accident and cause hard to yourselfand the health and the safety of your
family or other people. So alsotoo medical products, believe it or not,
(10:07):
And I know we talked a littlebit about this offline. Ask yourself,
if you're going into a medical procedure, would you want the product that's
been tested by whatever entity that's goingto test medical devices or do you want
a bootleg copy of some type ofmedical device that you're going to have a
heart Procedudra answers No. Now Iwould imagine the answers no. Also defense
(10:28):
technology, that's a big one becausethe adversary wants to know our capabilities,
right, And you know what thatwhen you say that, it just brings
so many other situations regarding the enemies, yes to our country. And I
think that's going to be part two. Okay, part because that's how that
(10:48):
will take a long time. Yeah, but thank you for answering that.
What challenges does the FBI face whiletrying to investigate this type of threat domestically
and internationally. I think you answereda little bit well. I would say,
listen, we're in the age ofthe Internet, so you have online
marketings all over the world. Sosometimes we can do things domestically, but
(11:11):
sometimes our adversaries are overseas and it'shard to put our hands on them.
So that's one of the biggest challengeswhen we try to investigate these threats internationally.
Also domestically, you know, sometimespeople have these and we can sort
of drill down to it. Butlet's say, for instance, you have
people using double VPNs. They're tryingto look like they are trying to contact
(11:33):
you from let's say Las Vegas,but in reality, when you dig a
little deeper, they were really outin Florida. So we have to go
through the challenges of finding actually wherethe person is in the United States or
overseas. So that's that's one ofthe challenges, and I think one of
the biggest challenges. Sometimes people don'tthink it's a big deal when they're buying
(11:54):
counterfeit goods, so they're again goback to I don't care if it's a
fake this or fake that, Butif they look down the road, they'll
see the long term effect that itdoes affect us businesses in the our economy.
I'm pretty sure, I think.I mean, I'm sure I met
people or people say, hey,they have bleatings of dollars, they're not
(12:15):
going to lose anything. But thenthey don't see that. They picture like
you were talking about people losing theirjobs. That's true because and I'm sure
over many many years, a lotof our industries have been sent overseas and
that affects us economically. And sometimescompanies go overseas because it's just a cheaper
price point or whatever the case maybe. But imagine if you if that
(12:37):
was not the case, and youput all your hard work and effort in
the research, development or something,and then somebody hacked into it or stolen
and then all of you know,your hard work it is gone. Now
wow, I think I'm learning alittle bit to go along. So I
can only imagine this of what youguys go through to fight this. So
(12:58):
what about here, know Passo,I know you guys know that. I
always ask Paso. So in ourborder, reason like, could there be
a possible threat in our area ofregarding intellectual property them. I think it's
not just just to hear an elPassol, but just all over the world.
And I think too, by usbeing on the border city, sometimes
(13:20):
you do have you can have counterfeitmedication. Yeah, and as we know
how high medication can be just foranybody. You know, you go in
you have some issue and here inthe US that that pill may cost you
whatever, five hundred dollars. Thenyou think, hey, I can go
across the border and get it fortwenty five dollars. Now you got to
think about it. Did they takethe intellectual properties of a certain drug company
(13:43):
make these pills? Now again wecircle back to affecting health and health and
safety. So that's how it cansort of, I guess, cause an
issue living on a border city likelike l Passol, where you can get
fake products can get here absolutely,and not only that, it damage it
(14:03):
damages the reputation of let's say acompany, because if I go across until
to whever in Mexico or whatever,and I'm getting so called I'm thinking I'm
buying let's say example, legitimate ThaylanNaw. I get it from there,
I get sick or get hurt ordie. Now, my family probably want
(14:24):
to sue Taylan Naw and then TaylerNaws like, hey, hey, hey,
you can't sue us. But itdamaged their reputation in the long run,
because what's gonna happen people, I'mlike, I'm not buying Thaylan off
for a long time. And againthat hits them economically, I can understand
that. And also to tax revenues. As we know, if you're buying
or buying a non legitimate product oryou think it's legitimate, it helps us.
(14:48):
It hurts us tax wise because ifyou're not getting the tax revenue from
a legitimate person, our taxes payfor the street lights. And if the
city of the pastile doesn't have enoughtaxes, now these resources suffer. So
for those of you out there whoare doing this, please stop. We'll
get back to you later. Andthen it does wrops up of our jobs
(15:11):
here in the US. Yes,okay, especially that I see so many
advertisements for hills affordable medications from fromdifferent countries, but at the same time
they can get them here easily,exactly because you know that border nexus.
And now you got to ask yourself. Are you really getting the legitimate whatever?
(15:31):
Yeah, peel you you may begetting. It's very dangerous summer there.
What's a question from a community memberand they asked, you know,
does anyone care about small businesses andlike home based businesses, you know,
a small entrepreneurs, because I doknow there are some people who have had
(15:54):
their ideas and different things stolen fromthem and then they just give up.
So can you talk a little bitabout that, like does the FBI get
involved when it comes to Absolutely,we care about all our business because on
the whole it affects the US,whether it's a small business, medium sized
business. And I understand that someof our bigger business get a lot more,
(16:17):
a lot more exposure and press.Absolutely, the Kokes, the fisers,
the Boeings, of course, butwe do care about our small business
and what we try to do inthe way we try to handle it.
I would like to talk about againabout our coordination with Homeland Security now,
and of course you know the FBI, we do have dedicate agents and analysts
here actually at any FBI office.But we're speaking about El Paso and you
(16:41):
can call in. First of all, you can make complaint. You can
come by our office. You cancall our office here in El Paso nine
eight three two five thousand and initiatethat complaint. But also we work with
at least twenty five key federal internationalgovernment agency as well as private sector partners
to pretty much combat intellectual property theftaround the world. But what I will
(17:04):
also like to give your viewers isthis, it's the National Intellectual Property Rights
Coordination Center, and that website addressis www dot i c E dot gov
slash I p R Center at cE n t e R. I'll give
(17:27):
that again in Monica www dot iCE dot gov slash I p R c
E n t e R. Well, that include even a thought of you
know, like if someone came into see how you run your business,
they're rooting for you, and thenonce they get all that information, they've
(17:49):
taken over to someone else. Yeah, but one caveat to that, Monica.
What you also have to say,what has the what has the owner
done? Has the owner take areasonable measure to protect that intellectual property.
You can't say that, hey,this is my intellectual property and you've got
all your prototypes land on the internet, let's say, taking pictures of it.
(18:11):
On the Internet. You have tohave a reasonable expectation of protection of
your intellectual properties. Okay. Youknow, like say, for instance,
if you own the business, youhave to have maybe your employees sign a
nondisclosure. You have to upgrade yoursystems as far as your your internet,
making sure you have no malware,you know, making sure no one's trying
(18:32):
to hack into your system, orif you find an issue, immediately try
to have that issue rectified. Ifyou like, if you fire somebody,
you make sure you take away theiraccess immediately. So those are some of
the things that you you have totake precaution and care to protect what you
believe is valuable to you. Okay, that makes sense. It's kind of
like something that should go in everywhether it's small business, just something that
(18:57):
should go on the fob. Whatdo we do if we noticed someone stealing
our information and the intellectual property property. It has to be something that's not
generally known to the public. Likelike again I go back to code,
Like do you think anybody I'm suresomebody knows the trade secret. I'm sure
(19:19):
they put it like behind a vault. It's passed or protected. Only a
few people know the actual formula.So they're doing everything they need to do
to protect that trade secret. Soif if they had an issue and they
came to the FBI, we're gonnaask what did you do? Now if
they said, well, we justset it out, we just set the
file on the table, but thenyou didn't you didn't protect it. But
(19:41):
if you have all these other avenues, then we consider that a protect Okay,
So I guess it's just a method. You don't want to just put
the method of how you do somethingout there. Absolutely absolutely so, and
like get the answer to my questionabout like intellectualgraphy Beth for like local entrepreneurs.
(20:03):
And we're gonna go a little bitmore in depth too, you know,
in writing and impossibly later, pleaseshare some successful cases you've investigated and
or well the FBI as a wholehas investigated, and how was the perpetrator
brought to justice? Well, I'llgive you one. I was just thinking
about, you know, I alwaysuse my coke. I mean, you
(20:23):
know, I like diet coke Cocacola. But that's another story. But
back in April of twenty twenty one, a jury in eastern Tennessee convicted a
former Coca Cola employee of convicted ofstealing their trade secret related to inside the
coke can. It's a b pA free aluminum, so when the coke
(20:44):
comes out, it frees it.I mean I freeze. It's cold at
a certain temperature. And what thiswoman did was she wanted to start her
own company in another country, soprior to her leaving the Coca Cola company,
she stole that trade secret. Sodo you know how much money it
costs for Cope to to do theresearch and development on that b BPA technology.
(21:08):
One hundred and twenty million dollars.So think about that. I go
back to the research and development.She didn't have to do anything to do
the researching development. Coke did it. She sticks her flash drive in it
downloads everything, and she was gonna, you know again start her own company,
and she probably would have gotten awaywith it. But obviously Coca Cola
(21:30):
has something within their their system tonotice that anomaly when she was trying to
you know, download all that.But anyway, so she was arrested and
charged. But it's just not CocaCola. It's other companies, Boeing,
it's Fiser, it's it's many companiesthat have issues to where people trying to
(21:53):
steal their technology and try to duplicate. We call that reverse engineering and try
to implicate that technology one because obviouslyit's from an economic standpoint. They want
to make that money for themselves orfor their company. And a lot of
these folks what they do, they'reusually trying to do a start of business.
(22:15):
And that goes to again, notjust foreign governments, but when foreign
actors try to steal our American technology, you'll usually see it, I don't
know, maybe a year or whatever. Couple of years later then they undercut
the US. Now instead of buyingwhatever it is for five dollars a can,
they'll sell it to you now forthree dollars. Now that factory in
(22:37):
the US has went under because somebody'sbuying it for three dollars. And when
the factory goes under, everybody getlaid laid off. So and like I
say, a trickle down too,because and I'm gonna getting a little granular
here, because when that company closesdown, Let's say you had a subway
shop where all those employees at companywould go to that subway shop and eat
(22:57):
and help that business out. Nowthe company's closed down, what happened to
the subway shop. Oh see,that's where the economic the economic dwindow goes
down. I mean because not onlynext to that that let's say that subway
shop, there was a guy therethat shine shoes, but whose shoes is
shining now? So now it's justyou see the domino effect. Absolutely so
(23:25):
so, and I think exactly,And I think a lot of people don't
really don't really see it that way. Most people don't. I don't think
people pay attention to it unless ithappens to them. Happens to them.
Yes, but with some of thefactories, like just thinking back years ago
when the factories were closing, itmakes sense though, you know, you
kind of wonder why now, andthen all those businesses next door to that
(23:48):
factory is likely very likely going toclose down, right, Okay, Okay,
So this is really serious. Yes, it's very serious. So does
the FBI stay up today when itcomes to new initiatives or techniques and technologies
used by these absolutely. Um,that's the only way we've been able to
(24:08):
survive for over one hundred years iswe have to Well, first of all,
let's let's circle back to we hiresome of the top minds in the
world. I'm not as technologically savvy, but you know, I'll tell you
this, I surround my I surroundmyself of the folks that are. But
but yes, we definitely stay uponthe new the new technologies, the new
(24:33):
marketplaces, the payment service providers,and also the advertisers that may you know,
inevertly enable the activities of criminals.So yeah, we do day today.
We try to. But I willlike to say this, we don't
know everything you know, and that'swhy again always and employ your listeners.
(24:55):
If you think there's something out therethat we're not aware of, or that
you may be able to to giveus information on, we want you guys
to call in to do that,like if we like, for instance,
if we if you know somebody who'sstill in technology or somebody intellectual properties.
It may not be yours and maybe a friend, or you may just
hurt a rumor you should give usa call because we just may not know
(25:17):
about it. We may we maynot. And I'm sure that you know
how some people are kind of standoff is when it comes to contact.
What can you say that can probablyease their minds a little bit when it
comes to reporting these types of Well, first of all, you can be
an anonymous in most cases. Andthe reason I say most cases is because
(25:38):
if somebody is going to be harmed, let's say that, then your identity
may have to be just disclosed.But primarily you can be anonymous. And
we have several different ways, likeI told you before, we can you
can call us, you can emailus at IC three dot gov, or
(25:59):
or go on our way site tosee hey, like you know what,
I do think the FBI need toknow about this information because sometimes people have
information that may be able to bereported to their local police department and it's
not an FBI matter. That's youknow also too, this happens on there.
I've done this before, but it'svery rarely that I do it.
(26:22):
Sometimes we will meet you at aat your home, depending on this the
situation, we are known to tomeet at a coffee shop or something if
you want to report some information tous. And like I said, it
doesn't necessarily have to be any typeof IP, but if you think it's
a crime that has been committed,especially if it has a federal nexus,
somebody need to be on the phonecalling the FBI. Okay, well,
(26:47):
so there you guys have it.You don't have to go to the FBI's
office. Then don't be afraid tocontact them if you know this or if
you're a victim. If you're absolutelyif you're a victim, that is been
to my next probably my last questionuntil we depart two. We're gonna do
part two good. But what canbusinesses and companies do to combat I beat
(27:10):
that? And how can they reportit? Well, you just mentioned how
they were reported, but if theybelieve they are they are victims, So
what should they do I guess tocombat it to avoid the victence? Okay,
well, one thing I would Iwould like for you to do,
Monica possible. I'm gonna provide yourpamphlet later on and maybe you can post
that on your website and then youknow, because sometimes people are visual and
they want to see it. I'ma visual person, so I understand that.
(27:34):
But first of all, do notstore a private info on any device
that's connected to the Internet. Wealways advise against using like WiFi at hotels
and Starbucks. If you're doing somethingreally personal, if you're doing your business
plan, don't don't do it ata Starbucks Wi Fi Starbucks wif fire is
cool if you want to just youknow, uh whatever, review to Internet,
(27:57):
but when it's something like your businessplan and so your prototype or something
important you're working on, I wouldadvise against that. Also, update your
security software tools. Some folks,things are very years out of date,
so definitely do that because there's patchesand plugs that need to be updated.
Also, educate your employees on spearfishingand email tactics, meaning that if you
(28:21):
get an email and say, hey, this is HR. We've changed your
routing number for your check, addyour you know, this is your new
routing number. Next thing you know, your check is going to whoever and
wherever, So be mindful. Orif you feel suspicious, call your HR
and say, hey did you didyou send me this? Did you change
(28:41):
our routing numbers for whatever? Forwhatever the case may be. Also,
you have to establish a protocol forquarantining suspicious emails. Don't have that person
now for it an emails to everybodyin the company. Hey look at this
email what I have because that emailcould have a backdoor on it, it
could have malware on it. Sonow once they click on it, it's
(29:03):
corrupted your whole system. So justhave some protocols on that. Definitely ensure
your employees are trained to avoid unintendeddisclosure. Unintended disclosure where is um?
If I said I'm human resources again, I'm like, hey, this is
company X. Hey, company X, this is Nicole Adams. I am
the vice president. I need thenew and I need the new passwords to
(29:27):
the prototype that Monica's working on.And if they don't do any digging,
then you may have a new employeelike, oh, okay, that's the
vice president. I better give herthat password to Monica's prototype. And it's
not the vice president, it's ayou know, a bad actor. Also,
be aware of what you're throwing out. Sometimes I would advise any company
(29:48):
to have a shredder, a crosscut shredder, a cross cut shredder,
because you have some paper. Thecheaper ones that just even piece that together
easily, but you know crosscut isgoing to go and you know the proper
direction where it chops it up reallyfinely and likely too unlikely to put it
back together. Also, remind youremployees of security policies on a regular basis,
(30:10):
because we all can get kind oflax and they're like, oh,
they've given us a security briefing,but remind them on a regular basis.
Also make them sign undisclosures so ifthere is an issue now there could be
charges lodged against them because they violatedthe nondisclosure. And also lastly document when
(30:33):
these employment educations I guess seminars ormeeting have taken place, because if I
come to you and say, hey, when was the last time this person
had a security briefing on your technology, I don't know. No, but
because documented you were, Like whenNicole I gave her, she knew she
wasn't supposed to do this because Ijust gave her this briefing yesterday and she
(30:55):
signed a non disclosure. So there'sno way that person can said, well,
I did not know. But ifit's not documented and everybody's like I
don't know, then then now thatperson can say, wow, I didn't
know that. I was not supposedto disclose this to whoever. So you
have to So you have to haveto do that to your folks. So
(31:18):
so for those of people are entrepreneursand business owners especially, I think those
two with who have higher virtual assistance, Yeah, because you don't know if
they're using like you mentioned, virusprotection that's true. So you have to
do But if you got something reallysensitive and you worked your backside off for
(31:40):
the last five ten years, youhave to do the due dealings. Just
making sure you got to write people. That's protecting your your your intellectual property.
And also I think I mentioned it, but I will mention it again.
If you know you're going to terminatesomebody, you remove their access immediately.
If you're going to terminate them ona Friday, have their access removed
(32:00):
before you yes, before you evenfire them. Because here's the issue that
a lot of people do. Okay, we're going to remove their access,
and what they do is they mayremove their access to to get into the
building, but they're not even thinkingabout their computer access. That person goes
in and breaks havoc. Yes,and also have limited people who have access
to what we call your case toyour kingdom. Okay, everybody shouldn't know
(32:23):
the formula. Yes, I mean, you know my side business, I
do work with people and I tellthem, you know, you have to
be careful on who you allow tobe an administrator on your Yes media too.
Yes, and that's how they lose, like so they get locked out.
Yes, that's when they get lockedout for some upset former ess like,
(32:45):
hey, I set that up foryou, so I'm going to take
all those people with me. It'sso important so that that makes someone sense.
And also, I know I saidlastly, but lastly, have it
if you are the administrator, havealmost like a security alert, Like if
somebody is digging into files they haveno business in and it's not their need
to know, it should be setup to where it pings you. It's
(33:05):
like, hey, sometimes it isan accident that can happen, but if
you notice that Bob X is tryingto put a flash strine drive in and
try to download a terabyte of aprogram that he has no information or no
need to be working on, itshould pin you and then put up an
alert where it prevents a like afirewall for him accessing whatever he's not supposed
(33:28):
to have. Oh God, youshared so much, thank you, and
I know that's so much more.But we're going to make sure that everyone
is this information and share. We'llshare the samphlets online too, so hopefully
people will download them and take it, take it serious. Yes, I
know. One thing I did wantto bring up I guess because I guess
some people are ashamed, I guessto come forward and you know point it
(33:52):
has happened to them. So againthe FBI is here. You can contact
them at the information and we'll makesure that's up on the screen and we'll
serve that again on our social mediatoo. So the cool and now we
had a lot to unpack. We'regoing to have part two. Absolutely,
I think part two is would bereally important, but it want to save
(34:13):
that, yeah, because I thinkon part two I would like to give
I know, sometimes people they don'tyou know, we're going to these violations
like that we got, you know, when we charge people for economic espionage,
we have like the it's a titleeighteen USC, Section eighteen thirty one
and eighteen thirty two. So Iwould like to talk more about that.
But sometimes people don't really want tohear about the violation. They just want
(34:35):
to know the nuts and boats ofwhat is IP, how can I stop
it? And if I am ifI do have my IPS stolen, what
can I do? And who canI call? But you know, those
are just pretty much saying how youcan be charged and what amount of time
or what finds you will have ifif you are convicted Okay, so yes,
well, we're looking forward to yousharing more information with the community.
(34:59):
I'm pretty sure this is going tohelp someone. I'm pretty sure I'm going
to tack off for my business togo over their business to make sure that
they're one point. Ye say surethat Jennis Cluff can't get stolen. But
we want to thank you again forcoming and we really do appreciate a Pastel
FBI Field Office for always forming thecommunity. I appreciate you. Thank you
(35:21):
again, Monica
Welcome back, supervisory special agent andNicole Adam. Hey Monica, great to
be back. Thank you for havingme, Thank you, thank you.
This is a really important topic tome, and I know this is probably
going to be a two part seriesbecause there's so much to cover. But
please, before we get started,please tell everyone a little bit about yourself
again. I'm Nicole Adams. I'ma supervisory special Agent for the l passle
(00:23):
FBI, and I am the supervisorof what we call the National Security Program
and I work counterintelligence. And withcounterintelligence, we focus on intellectual properties,
economic espionage, theft of trade secretsprimarily. But today we're going to be
discussing intellectual properties. So hopefully youenjoy Yes, thank you, thank you
(00:45):
too much. So we're gonna goahead, get right into it. Can
you provide us with an overview ofthe current state of intellectual property theft in
the United States and how it affectsbusinesses and individuals. Absolutely, let's get
started. But first discuss what isan intellectual property? Yes, yes,
definitely should have been the first thingthat I ask. Now, First of
(01:06):
all, an intellectual property protection it'sone in domestical or foreign companies try to
illegally acquire your company's information. That'smore of a basic terminology. But we're
going to drill down into what isa trade secret, Like, for instance,
the Coca Cola formula is a tradesecret. KFC's covenant recipe that would
(01:26):
be a trade secret. Now,the FBI's intellectual properties investigations focused on theft
of trade secret like I previously said, and copyright infringements on products that can
impact people's health and safety. Nowthink about copyright. We're gonna sort of
delve into two different areas here copyright. So almost like when you get movies,
(01:48):
the bootleg movies, that's a copyrightinfringement because the studio has not given
you permission to use their imaging,their likeness, the overall quality of their
movie. Because what they want theywant you to come in and either watch
the movie and they get that revenue, or second of all, by a
legitimate DVD, or to legitimately downloadthat movie or that song and they're going
(02:12):
to get the benefits and the revenuefrom that streaming of that whatever of that
movie or to download. So whatrole does the FBI play in investigating intellectual
property? Pretty much our roles arelike this, but intellectually property theft and
commercial fraud. Currently, we haveinitiated one three hundred and sixty seven cases.
(02:32):
Now this was in fiscal year twentytwo. We haven't compelled the numbers
for fiscal year twenty three. Solet me explain that. Because when you
think of thirteen hundred cases, overthirteen hundred cases, it's not El Paso
alone, So let's make sure that'sacross the bureau's fifty six field offices.
That's still a lot of cases.But what I would like to say,
(02:53):
there are so many other cases thatwe have not opened that are currently ongoing
that one we may not have knowledgeabout, or two, sometimes the theft
of trade secrets or intellectual properties isso overwhelming. Literally every agent in the
FBI could work a IP case,as I'll say, and we still probably
(03:14):
wouldn't have enough agents. But asof fiscal year twenty two, we have
arrested five hundred and forty people accusedof theft of trade secrets or IP.
We've had three hundred and nine indictments, one hundred and twenty nine people have
been convicted, and we have seizedtwo hundred two thousand, three hundred and
eighty six incidents of seizure. Andwhat's the sad thing about it is that
(03:38):
there's been over a billion dollars ofloss to the US economy. Now what
our trade secrets? Okay, let'sthink about this. Trade secrets are all
forms of types of financial, business, scientific, technical, economic engineering,
and the list can go on.And as previously said, I said compilation,
(04:00):
formulas, patterns, prototypes. Let'ssay, for instance, Monica,
if you were trying to develop anew flying car. All right, you've
worked very hard. You and yourcompany have, let's say, put in
billions of dollars or millions of dollarsin this prototype. All of a sudden,
a foreign adversary comes in steal yourprototype. Now what they're doing is
(04:25):
making this car in another country.And how much assets have you lost?
You lost money because that company didnot have to do the research and development
that you and your company had todo. Second of all, i'm sure
your company would have employees. Sonow you have no employees because that other
company is making this product at acheaper at a cheaper price point. So
(04:49):
you have no prototype, you haveno employees, you have no revenue because
now no one is buying whatever youwere trying to make that new flying car.
So all that money went overseas,So how did that damage you economically
significantly? Right? Yeah, Sothat's that's when you gotta I know,
sometimes people think, oh, it'sa victimless crime. I just got a
(05:12):
new Louis Vaton bag from the swatmeed, I just got this new Groucci
bag. But that does affect thateconomy because you're not paying the full price
for that item, and it causesa lot of problems. So it's intellectual
property theft primarily a domestic issue.Like I know you just mentioned like foreign
(05:35):
government. Correct, So in whatways does the FBI worked with other agencies
and organizations to help protect their intellectualproperty, including nationally? I guess okay,
Well, first of all, let'stalk about this um, the Economic
Espionage Act of nineteen ninety six.Now, this Act was signed into law
(05:55):
by President Clinton, and it makesthe theft or misappropriation of trade seekers criminal
offense. Sometimes people think, oh, they stole it, it's just the
cost of doing business. But nowyou can possibly go to jail, you
can possibly be fined. It's uniquebecause it's the first federal law to brawy
define and severely punish such misappropriations andfat Currently we're working with Homeland Security as
(06:20):
far as another agency, and thisis called i'm gonna say IP for short,
but it's Intellectual Property Protects, whichis a national Intellectual Property rights coordination
center, and it's an outreach initihitionutilizing the resources and expertise as said of
Homeland Security, and what we tryto do is bring together public and private
(06:41):
sector partners to help small and mediumsized business enterprises defend themselves from IP theft,
infringement, crimes, and fraud andcyber intrusion. Because sometimes it's not
always like I know, I madethe analogy of a purse, but sometimes
companies can hack into your system andstill we'll go with the prototype again.
So we have to raise awareness that'sone about the scope of intellectual property theft
(07:06):
and determine the effects because again youmay think that, oh, they just
stole this and it's not really goingto affect me, and as I gave
you an example, it really doesbecause it now it messages with your bottom
line and you can be undercut bya competitor that now is going to make
the same thing that you've worked sohard for a Second of all, we
(07:28):
need to identify and assist business vulnerableto IP loss, and sometimes we don't
know. So if you think thatyour intellectual property has been compromised, loss
stolen, misappropriated, then you needto call the FBI or again or we're
working jointly also too with the Homelandsecurity investigations. Also too, we need
(07:49):
to support IP feft reporting. Next, we also need to establish a community
oriented partnership to collaboratively prevent and respondto IP loss. So that's what we're
trying to do, okay, andI'm going to get back to that a
little bit later on, but especiallyabout the type you know, not necessarily
(08:09):
the types, but when it comesto the big company and the smaller company.
So what are the most common typesof IP depths and which industries are
most effective? Wow? But whatI want to do just real quick,
I'm gonna go circle back to thequestion you ask me, because I want
people to know with our partnership,which eighths your side is free? Okay,
And I think sometimes when people docome to the FBI, we are
(08:31):
public servants here. So if youyou don't have to pay us, I
mean, well your tax dollars do. But I think sometimes people think,
oh, if I go to theFBI, they're not going to help me.
I'm not going to sit and saythat we're going to help every case,
because that's not that's not even feasible. But if you think your intellectual
property have been stolen, contact us. You don't have to reach out to
this organization who want to charge youfive hundred dollars to review your your your
(08:54):
theft or loss. You contact us, free, your charge, your tax
dollars. Already pay for it.It's already what we do. Okay,
Yes, what are the most commontypes of IDA deaths and which industrings are
most effective? Well, you havea wide ranging variety up like say,
for instance, we can say mostof it is technology that is the most
(09:18):
common type of theft. And alsoyou got to think about things that affect
health and safety. Like health andsafety, you're thinking, okay, well
what is that. Like Let's say, for instance, if you had Good
ear tires. Good has a certainstandard on what certain tires have to be
tested. But if you buy let'ssay, some bootleg tires, Now,
the safety of your family and yougetting on the road with tires that have
(09:41):
not been tested properly because they thoughtwhen they stole this, meaning they the
bad guy who thought when they stoleyour your compilations or your your trade seekers
on these tires, that it wouldbe up to good your standard. But
it's not. You get to blowout immediately, you know, you get
an accident and cause hard to yourselfand the health and the safety of your
family or other people. So alsotoo medical products, believe it or not,
(10:07):
And I know we talked a littlebit about this offline. Ask yourself,
if you're going into a medical procedure, would you want the product that's
been tested by whatever entity that's goingto test medical devices or do you want
a bootleg copy of some type ofmedical device that you're going to have a
heart Procedudra answers No. Now Iwould imagine the answers no. Also defense
(10:28):
technology, that's a big one becausethe adversary wants to know our capabilities,
right, And you know what thatwhen you say that, it just brings
so many other situations regarding the enemies, yes to our country. And I
think that's going to be part two. Okay, part because that's how that
(10:48):
will take a long time. Yeah, but thank you for answering that.
What challenges does the FBI face whiletrying to investigate this type of threat domestically
and internationally. I think you answereda little bit well. I would say,
listen, we're in the age ofthe Internet, so you have online
marketings all over the world. Sosometimes we can do things domestically, but
(11:11):
sometimes our adversaries are overseas and it'shard to put our hands on them.
So that's one of the biggest challengeswhen we try to investigate these threats internationally.
Also domestically, you know, sometimespeople have these and we can sort
of drill down to it. Butlet's say, for instance, you have
people using double VPNs. They're tryingto look like they are trying to contact
(11:33):
you from let's say Las Vegas,but in reality, when you dig a
little deeper, they were really outin Florida. So we have to go
through the challenges of finding actually wherethe person is in the United States or
overseas. So that's that's one ofthe challenges, and I think one of
the biggest challenges. Sometimes people don'tthink it's a big deal when they're buying
(11:54):
counterfeit goods, so they're again goback to I don't care if it's a
fake this or fake that, Butif they look down the road, they'll
see the long term effect that itdoes affect us businesses in the our economy.
I'm pretty sure, I think.I mean, I'm sure I met
people or people say, hey,they have bleatings of dollars, they're not
(12:15):
going to lose anything. But thenthey don't see that. They picture like
you were talking about people losing theirjobs. That's true because and I'm sure
over many many years, a lotof our industries have been sent overseas and
that affects us economically. And sometimescompanies go overseas because it's just a cheaper
price point or whatever the case maybe. But imagine if you if that
(12:37):
was not the case, and youput all your hard work and effort in
the research, development or something,and then somebody hacked into it or stolen
and then all of you know,your hard work it is gone. Now
wow, I think I'm learning alittle bit to go along. So I
can only imagine this of what youguys go through to fight this. So
(12:58):
what about here, know Passo,I know you guys know that. I
always ask Paso. So in ourborder, reason like, could there be
a possible threat in our area ofregarding intellectual property them. I think it's
not just just to hear an elPassol, but just all over the world.
And I think too, by usbeing on the border city, sometimes
(13:20):
you do have you can have counterfeitmedication. Yeah, and as we know
how high medication can be just foranybody. You know, you go in
you have some issue and here inthe US that that pill may cost you
whatever, five hundred dollars. Thenyou think, hey, I can go
across the border and get it fortwenty five dollars. Now you got to
think about it. Did they takethe intellectual properties of a certain drug company
(13:43):
make these pills? Now again wecircle back to affecting health and health and
safety. So that's how it cansort of, I guess, cause an
issue living on a border city likelike l Passol, where you can get
fake products can get here absolutely,and not only that, it damage it
(14:03):
damages the reputation of let's say acompany, because if I go across until
to whever in Mexico or whatever,and I'm getting so called I'm thinking I'm
buying let's say example, legitimate ThaylanNaw. I get it from there,
I get sick or get hurt ordie. Now, my family probably want
(14:24):
to sue Taylan Naw and then TaylerNaws like, hey, hey, hey,
you can't sue us. But itdamaged their reputation in the long run,
because what's gonna happen people, I'mlike, I'm not buying Thaylan off
for a long time. And againthat hits them economically, I can understand
that. And also to tax revenues. As we know, if you're buying
or buying a non legitimate product oryou think it's legitimate, it helps us.
(14:48):
It hurts us tax wise because ifyou're not getting the tax revenue from
a legitimate person, our taxes payfor the street lights. And if the
city of the pastile doesn't have enoughtaxes, now these resources suffer. So
for those of you out there whoare doing this, please stop. We'll
get back to you later. Andthen it does wrops up of our jobs
(15:11):
here in the US. Yes,okay, especially that I see so many
advertisements for hills affordable medications from fromdifferent countries, but at the same time
they can get them here easily,exactly because you know that border nexus.
And now you got to ask yourself. Are you really getting the legitimate whatever?
(15:31):
Yeah, peel you you may begetting. It's very dangerous summer there.
What's a question from a community memberand they asked, you know,
does anyone care about small businesses andlike home based businesses, you know,
a small entrepreneurs, because I doknow there are some people who have had
(15:54):
their ideas and different things stolen fromthem and then they just give up.
So can you talk a little bitabout that, like does the FBI get
involved when it comes to Absolutely,we care about all our business because on
the whole it affects the US,whether it's a small business, medium sized
business. And I understand that someof our bigger business get a lot more,
(16:17):
a lot more exposure and press.Absolutely, the Kokes, the fisers,
the Boeings, of course, butwe do care about our small business
and what we try to do inthe way we try to handle it.
I would like to talk about againabout our coordination with Homeland Security now,
and of course you know the FBI, we do have dedicate agents and analysts
here actually at any FBI office.But we're speaking about El Paso and you
(16:41):
can call in. First of all, you can make complaint. You can
come by our office. You cancall our office here in El Paso nine
eight three two five thousand and initiatethat complaint. But also we work with
at least twenty five key federal internationalgovernment agency as well as private sector partners
to pretty much combat intellectual property theftaround the world. But what I will
(17:04):
also like to give your viewers isthis, it's the National Intellectual Property Rights
Coordination Center, and that website addressis www dot i c E dot gov
slash I p R Center at cE n t e R. I'll give
(17:27):
that again in Monica www dot iCE dot gov slash I p R c
E n t e R. Well, that include even a thought of you
know, like if someone came into see how you run your business,
they're rooting for you, and thenonce they get all that information, they've
(17:49):
taken over to someone else. Yeah, but one caveat to that, Monica.
What you also have to say,what has the what has the owner
done? Has the owner take areasonable measure to protect that intellectual property.
You can't say that, hey,this is my intellectual property and you've got
all your prototypes land on the internet, let's say, taking pictures of it.
(18:11):
On the Internet. You have tohave a reasonable expectation of protection of
your intellectual properties. Okay. Youknow, like say, for instance,
if you own the business, youhave to have maybe your employees sign a
nondisclosure. You have to upgrade yoursystems as far as your your internet,
making sure you have no malware,you know, making sure no one's trying
(18:32):
to hack into your system, orif you find an issue, immediately try
to have that issue rectified. Ifyou like, if you fire somebody,
you make sure you take away theiraccess immediately. So those are some of
the things that you you have totake precaution and care to protect what you
believe is valuable to you. Okay, that makes sense. It's kind of
like something that should go in everywhether it's small business, just something that
(18:57):
should go on the fob. Whatdo we do if we noticed someone stealing
our information and the intellectual property property. It has to be something that's not
generally known to the public. Likelike again I go back to code,
Like do you think anybody I'm suresomebody knows the trade secret. I'm sure
(19:19):
they put it like behind a vault. It's passed or protected. Only a
few people know the actual formula.So they're doing everything they need to do
to protect that trade secret. Soif if they had an issue and they
came to the FBI, we're gonnaask what did you do? Now if
they said, well, we justset it out, we just set the
file on the table, but thenyou didn't you didn't protect it. But
(19:41):
if you have all these other avenues, then we consider that a protect Okay,
So I guess it's just a method. You don't want to just put
the method of how you do somethingout there. Absolutely absolutely so, and
like get the answer to my questionabout like intellectualgraphy Beth for like local entrepreneurs.
(20:03):
And we're gonna go a little bitmore in depth too, you know,
in writing and impossibly later, pleaseshare some successful cases you've investigated and
or well the FBI as a wholehas investigated, and how was the perpetrator
brought to justice? Well, I'llgive you one. I was just thinking
about, you know, I alwaysuse my coke. I mean, you
(20:23):
know, I like diet coke Cocacola. But that's another story. But
back in April of twenty twenty one, a jury in eastern Tennessee convicted a
former Coca Cola employee of convicted ofstealing their trade secret related to inside the
coke can. It's a b pA free aluminum, so when the coke
(20:44):
comes out, it frees it.I mean I freeze. It's cold at
a certain temperature. And what thiswoman did was she wanted to start her
own company in another country, soprior to her leaving the Coca Cola company,
she stole that trade secret. Sodo you know how much money it
costs for Cope to to do theresearch and development on that b BPA technology.
(21:08):
One hundred and twenty million dollars.So think about that. I go
back to the research and development.She didn't have to do anything to do
the researching development. Coke did it. She sticks her flash drive in it
downloads everything, and she was gonna, you know again start her own company,
and she probably would have gotten awaywith it. But obviously Coca Cola
(21:30):
has something within their their system tonotice that anomaly when she was trying to
you know, download all that.But anyway, so she was arrested and
charged. But it's just not CocaCola. It's other companies, Boeing,
it's Fiser, it's it's many companiesthat have issues to where people trying to
(21:53):
steal their technology and try to duplicate. We call that reverse engineering and try
to implicate that technology one because obviouslyit's from an economic standpoint. They want
to make that money for themselves orfor their company. And a lot of
these folks what they do, they'reusually trying to do a start of business.
(22:15):
And that goes to again, notjust foreign governments, but when foreign
actors try to steal our American technology, you'll usually see it, I don't
know, maybe a year or whatever. Couple of years later then they undercut
the US. Now instead of buyingwhatever it is for five dollars a can,
they'll sell it to you now forthree dollars. Now that factory in
(22:37):
the US has went under because somebody'sbuying it for three dollars. And when
the factory goes under, everybody getlaid laid off. So and like I
say, a trickle down too,because and I'm gonna getting a little granular
here, because when that company closesdown, Let's say you had a subway
shop where all those employees at companywould go to that subway shop and eat
(22:57):
and help that business out. Nowthe company's closed down, what happened to
the subway shop. Oh see,that's where the economic the economic dwindow goes
down. I mean because not onlynext to that that let's say that subway
shop, there was a guy therethat shine shoes, but whose shoes is
shining now? So now it's justyou see the domino effect. Absolutely so
(23:25):
so, and I think exactly,And I think a lot of people don't
really don't really see it that way. Most people don't. I don't think
people pay attention to it unless ithappens to them. Happens to them.
Yes, but with some of thefactories, like just thinking back years ago
when the factories were closing, itmakes sense though, you know, you
kind of wonder why now, andthen all those businesses next door to that
(23:48):
factory is likely very likely going toclose down, right, Okay, Okay,
So this is really serious. Yes, it's very serious. So does
the FBI stay up today when itcomes to new initiatives or techniques and technologies
used by these absolutely. Um,that's the only way we've been able to
(24:08):
survive for over one hundred years iswe have to Well, first of all,
let's let's circle back to we hiresome of the top minds in the
world. I'm not as technologically savvy, but you know, I'll tell you
this, I surround my I surroundmyself of the folks that are. But
but yes, we definitely stay uponthe new the new technologies, the new
(24:33):
marketplaces, the payment service providers,and also the advertisers that may you know,
inevertly enable the activities of criminals.So yeah, we do day today.
We try to. But I willlike to say this, we don't
know everything you know, and that'swhy again always and employ your listeners.
(24:55):
If you think there's something out therethat we're not aware of, or that
you may be able to to giveus information on, we want you guys
to call in to do that,like if we like, for instance,
if we if you know somebody who'sstill in technology or somebody intellectual properties.
It may not be yours and maybe a friend, or you may just
hurt a rumor you should give usa call because we just may not know
(25:17):
about it. We may we maynot. And I'm sure that you know
how some people are kind of standoff is when it comes to contact.
What can you say that can probablyease their minds a little bit when it
comes to reporting these types of Well, first of all, you can be
an anonymous in most cases. Andthe reason I say most cases is because
(25:38):
if somebody is going to be harmed, let's say that, then your identity
may have to be just disclosed.But primarily you can be anonymous. And
we have several different ways, likeI told you before, we can you
can call us, you can emailus at IC three dot gov, or
(25:59):
or go on our way site tosee hey, like you know what,
I do think the FBI need toknow about this information because sometimes people have
information that may be able to bereported to their local police department and it's
not an FBI matter. That's youknow also too, this happens on there.
I've done this before, but it'svery rarely that I do it.
(26:22):
Sometimes we will meet you at aat your home, depending on this the
situation, we are known to tomeet at a coffee shop or something if
you want to report some information tous. And like I said, it
doesn't necessarily have to be any typeof IP, but if you think it's
a crime that has been committed,especially if it has a federal nexus,
somebody need to be on the phonecalling the FBI. Okay, well,
(26:47):
so there you guys have it.You don't have to go to the FBI's
office. Then don't be afraid tocontact them if you know this or if
you're a victim. If you're absolutelyif you're a victim, that is been
to my next probably my last questionuntil we depart two. We're gonna do
part two good. But what canbusinesses and companies do to combat I beat
(27:10):
that? And how can they reportit? Well, you just mentioned how
they were reported, but if theybelieve they are they are victims, So
what should they do I guess tocombat it to avoid the victence? Okay,
well, one thing I would Iwould like for you to do,
Monica possible. I'm gonna provide yourpamphlet later on and maybe you can post
that on your website and then youknow, because sometimes people are visual and
they want to see it. I'ma visual person, so I understand that.
(27:34):
But first of all, do notstore a private info on any device
that's connected to the Internet. Wealways advise against using like WiFi at hotels
and Starbucks. If you're doing somethingreally personal, if you're doing your business
plan, don't don't do it ata Starbucks Wi Fi Starbucks wif fire is
cool if you want to just youknow, uh whatever, review to Internet,
(27:57):
but when it's something like your businessplan and so your prototype or something
important you're working on, I wouldadvise against that. Also, update your
security software tools. Some folks,things are very years out of date,
so definitely do that because there's patchesand plugs that need to be updated.
Also, educate your employees on spearfishingand email tactics, meaning that if you
(28:21):
get an email and say, hey, this is HR. We've changed your
routing number for your check, addyour you know, this is your new
routing number. Next thing you know, your check is going to whoever and
wherever, So be mindful. Orif you feel suspicious, call your HR
and say, hey did you didyou send me this? Did you change
(28:41):
our routing numbers for whatever? Forwhatever the case may be. Also,
you have to establish a protocol forquarantining suspicious emails. Don't have that person
now for it an emails to everybodyin the company. Hey look at this
email what I have because that emailcould have a backdoor on it, it
could have malware on it. Sonow once they click on it, it's
(29:03):
corrupted your whole system. So justhave some protocols on that. Definitely ensure
your employees are trained to avoid unintendeddisclosure. Unintended disclosure where is um?
If I said I'm human resources again, I'm like, hey, this is
company X. Hey, company X, this is Nicole Adams. I am
the vice president. I need thenew and I need the new passwords to
(29:27):
the prototype that Monica's working on.And if they don't do any digging,
then you may have a new employeelike, oh, okay, that's the
vice president. I better give herthat password to Monica's prototype. And it's
not the vice president, it's ayou know, a bad actor. Also,
be aware of what you're throwing out. Sometimes I would advise any company
(29:48):
to have a shredder, a crosscut shredder, a cross cut shredder,
because you have some paper. Thecheaper ones that just even piece that together
easily, but you know crosscut isgoing to go and you know the proper
direction where it chops it up reallyfinely and likely too unlikely to put it
back together. Also, remind youremployees of security policies on a regular basis,
(30:10):
because we all can get kind oflax and they're like, oh,
they've given us a security briefing,but remind them on a regular basis.
Also make them sign undisclosures so ifthere is an issue now there could be
charges lodged against them because they violatedthe nondisclosure. And also lastly document when
(30:33):
these employment educations I guess seminars ormeeting have taken place, because if I
come to you and say, hey, when was the last time this person
had a security briefing on your technology, I don't know. No, but
because documented you were, Like whenNicole I gave her, she knew she
wasn't supposed to do this because Ijust gave her this briefing yesterday and she
(30:55):
signed a non disclosure. So there'sno way that person can said, well,
I did not know. But ifit's not documented and everybody's like I
don't know, then then now thatperson can say, wow, I didn't
know that. I was not supposedto disclose this to whoever. So you
have to So you have to haveto do that to your folks. So
(31:18):
so for those of people are entrepreneursand business owners especially, I think those
two with who have higher virtual assistance, Yeah, because you don't know if
they're using like you mentioned, virusprotection that's true. So you have to
do But if you got something reallysensitive and you worked your backside off for
(31:40):
the last five ten years, youhave to do the due dealings. Just
making sure you got to write people. That's protecting your your your intellectual property.
And also I think I mentioned it, but I will mention it again.
If you know you're going to terminatesomebody, you remove their access immediately.
If you're going to terminate them ona Friday, have their access removed
(32:00):
before you yes, before you evenfire them. Because here's the issue that
a lot of people do. Okay, we're going to remove their access,
and what they do is they mayremove their access to to get into the
building, but they're not even thinkingabout their computer access. That person goes
in and breaks havoc. Yes,and also have limited people who have access
to what we call your case toyour kingdom. Okay, everybody shouldn't know
(32:23):
the formula. Yes, I mean, you know my side business, I
do work with people and I tellthem, you know, you have to
be careful on who you allow tobe an administrator on your Yes media too.
Yes, and that's how they lose, like so they get locked out.
Yes, that's when they get lockedout for some upset former ess like,
(32:45):
hey, I set that up foryou, so I'm going to take
all those people with me. It'sso important so that that makes someone sense.
And also, I know I saidlastly, but lastly, have it
if you are the administrator, havealmost like a security alert, Like if
somebody is digging into files they haveno business in and it's not their need
to know, it should be setup to where it pings you. It's
(33:05):
like, hey, sometimes it isan accident that can happen, but if
you notice that Bob X is tryingto put a flash strine drive in and
try to download a terabyte of aprogram that he has no information or no
need to be working on, itshould pin you and then put up an
alert where it prevents a like afirewall for him accessing whatever he's not supposed
(33:28):
to have. Oh God, youshared so much, thank you, and
I know that's so much more.But we're going to make sure that everyone
is this information and share. We'llshare the samphlets online too, so hopefully
people will download them and take it, take it serious. Yes, I
know. One thing I did wantto bring up I guess because I guess
some people are ashamed, I guessto come forward and you know point it
(33:52):
has happened to them. So againthe FBI is here. You can contact
them at the information and we'll makesure that's up on the screen and we'll
serve that again on our social mediatoo. So the cool and now we
had a lot to unpack. We'regoing to have part two. Absolutely,
I think part two is would bereally important, but it want to save
(34:13):
that, yeah, because I thinkon part two I would like to give
I know, sometimes people they don'tyou know, we're going to these violations
like that we got, you know, when we charge people for economic espionage,
we have like the it's a titleeighteen USC, Section eighteen thirty one
and eighteen thirty two. So Iwould like to talk more about that.
But sometimes people don't really want tohear about the violation. They just want
(34:35):
to know the nuts and boats ofwhat is IP, how can I stop
it? And if I am ifI do have my IPS stolen, what
can I do? And who canI call? But you know, those
are just pretty much saying how youcan be charged and what amount of time
or what finds you will have ifif you are convicted Okay, so yes,
well, we're looking forward to yousharing more information with the community.
(34:59):
I'm pretty sure this is going tohelp someone. I'm pretty sure I'm going
to tack off for my business togo over their business to make sure that
they're one point. Ye say surethat Jennis Cluff can't get stolen. But
we want to thank you again forcoming and we really do appreciate a Pastel
FBI Field Office for always forming thecommunity. I appreciate you. Thank you
(35:21):
again, Monica
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