Lawyers In The USA

Broker, Trader, Lawyer, Spy: The Secret World of Corporate Espionage

Description

In this penetrating work of investigative and historical journalism, Eamon Javers explores the dangerous and combustible power spies hold over international business.

Today's global economy has a dark underbelly: the world of corporate espionage. Using cutting-edge technology, age-old techniques of deceit and manipulation, and sheer talent, spies act as the hidden puppeteers of globalized businesses. They control markets, determine prices, influence corporate decisions, and manage the flow of data and information of some of the world's biggest corporations. In his gripping and alarming book, Eamon Javers takes the reader inside this hidden global industry. Readers meet the spies who conduct surveillance operations, satellite analysts who peer down on corporate targets from the skies, veteran CIA officers who work for hedge funds, and even a Soviet military intelligence officer who now sells his services to American companies.

This industry has tentacles in almost every industry in almost every corner of the globe. Intelligence companies and the spies they employ are setting up fake Web sites to elicit information, trailing individuals and mirroring travel itiner-aries, Dumpster-diving in household and corporate trash, using ultrasophisticated satellite surveillance to spy on facilities, acting as impostors to take jobs within companies or to gain access to corporations, concocting elaborate schemes of fraud and deceit, and hacking e-mail and secure computer networks. The work of this industry can be ingenious, but it also raises crucial moral and legal questions in a world where global conflicts are as likely to be corporation versus corporation as they are to be nation versus nation.

This globalized industry is not a recent phenomenon, but rather a continuation of a fascinating history. The story begins with Allan Pinkerton, the nation's first true "private eye," and extends through the annals of a rich history that includes tycoons and playboys, presidents and FBI operatives, CEOs and accountants, Cold War veterans and military personnel. Built on exclusive reporting and unprecedented access, this book features accounts of Howard Hughes's private CIA, the extensive spying that took place in a battle between two global food companies, and interviews with some of the world's top corporate surveillance experts.

Reviews

Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-06-28
Summary: "Inside look at corporate spying"

Your competitors might be rummaging through your trash, eavesdropping on your conversations or studying satellite images of your properties. Corporate espionage is more common than you might imagine, writes journalist Eamon Javers in this intriguing study of commercial spying. He offers an impressively thorough study of its past and present, and he doesn't shy away from the thorny issues this sort of activity raises. Javers' use of court documents and his interviews with industry players create a well-rounded look at this little-noticed corner of capitalism. getAbstract recommends this book to anyone who enjoys a good spy story as well as to users and targets of corporate espionage. Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not after you.

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Rating: 4 / 5
Date: 2010-06-23
Summary: "Fascinating"

A fascinating expose on on how companies use former spies to gain competitive intelligence in their industries. Also details how the government is a partner in this business, allowing spies to moonlight, and sharing the cost of sattelites that generate images around the world. It was eye-opening.

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Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-05-14
Summary: "Very entertaining and informative read"

Picked this up before a long flight. It's an excellent book. The stories are engaging and supremely interesting. If you would like to learn more about the world of corporate spies, this is a good book to read. I can't wait to finish it on my flight home.

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Rating: 4 / 5
Date: 2010-04-03
Summary: "Nice Glimpse"

About: Javers presents a glimpse at the clandestine world of corporate spying. He presents a history of the investigation field, interviews current and former spies, profiles a few intelligence agencies and provides real-world stories of corporate spying.

Pros: Very interesting look into a world I barely knew existed. Presents a few tricky tactics corporate spies use, such as making fake [...] ads and conducting fake job interviews in order talk to employees looking to leave the company that's being spied on. Another tactic is to tell the company that they are a documentary crew working on a film and go into the company headquarters and film all they can in the guise of making a documentary. Sources cited.

Cons: Since spies are usually required to be closed mouth, one can only wonder what other stuff goes on in the espionage world that Javers' contacts wouldn't reveal. Javers' call for more openness in the field in the final chapter seems to come out of nowhere.

Grade: B

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Rating: 3 / 5
Date: 2010-03-16
Summary: "Not All It's Cracked Up To Be"

I've always been a fan of learning about the spy game. And I had always heard stories of how it pertained to the corporate world but never anything in depth. When I heard of this book, I expected a book based on facts that would place you squarely in the modern day corporate espionage arena. What I got, though, was something entirely different.

The book is a way too condensed version about the history of private eyes and how they're being used in today's fashion, with an extremely heavy concentration on the history aspects and who's connected with who. When I say "way too condensed", it is because it feels compact and hard to follow. You can read two paragraphs and it will jump through a complicated web of 15 people to get to where the author wants you to be. At times, all the names and connections can grow confusing. It also has a disorganized feel that seems to jump all over the place. You'll learn about the Pinkertons in the 1800's, follow them through a spiderweb of contacts to modern day, then jump back to 1800, all within 10 pages.

The book can also be dry at times, as it is written by an investigative reporter and never seems to shed it's journalism feel to become an in depth, captivating story. I'm not saying all journalists who are also authors write this way but this is definitely how Mr. Javers does in this case. It feels that most of the book follows a pattern like this...for 300 pages. Interweb was owned by John. John was a former CIA detective of 30 years and had known Russ. Russ brought Fred and Hank aboard, both NSA veterans, who then recruited Steve. Steve, allegedly, worked with Aaron, best friends of Garth. Now that Garth was aboard with Interweb, they could finally recruit Bob. The men went to work in an office in Washington, DC.

If you are extremely interested in the corporate espionage world or a private investigator history buff, I'd recommend it. But outside those qualifications, it doesn't warrant the full retail price tag.