'Acknowledging that developments and conditions show no sign of abating, the following list, applicable to both government and private industry, details the general reasons for industrial espionage: To gain an economic and unfair advantage over competitors. To appropriate R&D material at the lowest possible cost by learning what has already been undertaken by the competition. From this it can be determined what is or is not worth pursuing. Expand a potential customer base, by seeing who buys what and why from the competitors' product range. Determine the operating costs of competitors. Do they operate more efficiently and have access to cheaper raw materials? Determine the competitors' future strategic plans, to make sure they can never be a step ahead. A complementary list detailing illegal methods used to capture information includes but is not exclusive to: Eavesdropping through bugging offices and tapping phone conversations. Hacking into IT networks. Trespassing onto a competitor's private property, illegal use of video and photographic surveillance and the physical thievery of information. Blackmail and bribery. Planting a mole in the target organization, with the brief to transfer as much information out as possible. Hiring a competitor's employee who has the specific knowledge sought after. The use of a good-looking male or female to develop a close relationship with an employee who has specific secret knowledge. Industrial espionage can potentially threaten the operations of business and government. However, given there are difficulties in substantiating the size of the threat, and in fact many countries view industrial espionage as standard business practice, it is difficult to determine what this means for developing solutions. At the very minimum policy-makers and law enforcement agencies must acknowledge industrial espionage as a developing practice within the increasingly integrated global landscape.'