Corporate espionage is booming in India in 2018. Recent news reports in The Hindu Business Online and The Times of India have detailed the prevalence of this practice over decades. It is now in something of a boom period, with information being corruptly sourced from government and private interests. Energy, Defence and Finance are the ministries being targeted. Access to important and sensitive information is being bought by tycoons looking for economic advantages to increase their power and reach in India. Technology is fuelling the glut of corporate espionage currently occurring in India.

Crony Capitalism in India

According to Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan, crony socialism has been replaced by crony capitalism. Politicians are selling their secrets and favours to the elite members of India’s business community. It is a tight little club keen on exploiting its exclusivity for all that it’s worth. Telecommunication upgrades into the next generation of these technologies are proving a bonanza for those in the know. Energy production is another windfall for those companies with the necessary inside information. Senior executives from Reliance Industries, Essar, Cairns India, Jubilant Energy and ADAG Reliance have been arrested following corporate espionage investigations.

Technical Surveillance in Business

The expansion of corporate espionage around the globe has meant that technical surveillance counter measures are routinely called for at the corporate level. Indeed, even, for businesses of all sizes it is recommended that a sweep of possible bugs/listening devices is carried out regularly. Twenty years ago, plastic surgery was fairly rare and, now, everyone is doing it. Similarly, corporate espionage is no longer the domain of Jason Bourne movies. Illegal listening-in to what you are doing in business via computers, or the old-fashioned way over the phone, is commonplace in 2018.

Keep Some Privacy in Your Professional Life

India is not immune to these new trends fuelled by the inexpensive surveillance equipment and devices available via new technologies. People are watching what you do, and how you do it, and listening to you too. If you want to keep some privacy in your professional and personal life, don’t ignore the writing on the wall. Take steps to do something about it now. Get some protection and give yourself a fighting chance. In India, we must raise the bar, when it comes to standards of morality in the business world. Corporate espionage in India will harm the economic development and economic equality within our nation, if something is not quickly done about it.