Global geopolitical shifts and technological developments have increased economic espionage activities.
What are the most prominent countries that practice these activities?
Who are the target countries?
In a report published by the US site "Stratfor", writer Ben West says that although the United States is still the most powerful country in the world, its superiority over the rest of the countries has declined over the 30 years since the fall of the Soviet Union.
The United States faces more challenges as the international political system transitions from a unipolar world to a multipolar world.
The multipolar world means increased economic competition, and it also means that the less powerful countries will have more options when it comes to creating a political and economic balance with the big countries, and more incentives and opportunities to engage in economic espionage activities.
The author believes that establishing and maintaining alliances in a more complex world means that "small" countries can escape the consequences of economic excesses in light of the desire of the major countries to maintain strategic alliances.
The digitization of the economy and the spread of electronic espionage tools and methods will reduce the barriers that prevent the intelligence services and non-governmental organizations from carrying out economic espionage activities, and thus the spread of these activities on a wider global scale.
But who are the countries that carry out such practices?
According to the American report.
Stratfor website: Vietnam is among a group of countries seeking to compete with China in low-cost industries, and to engage in economic espionage activities (French)
China
According to Stratfor's belief, China seeks to compete with the United States and other developed countries in the technology, pharmaceutical and agricultural sectors, but the semiconductor industry is a good example for understanding the nature of economic espionage activities.
China is the largest consumer of semiconductor products such as microprocessors and memory chips, importing about 60% of global production, before exporting most of them in the form of electronic devices.
Although the semiconductor industry in China has developed rapidly in recent years thanks to investments estimated at billions of dollars, it still depends on imports from more advanced countries in this field such as the United States, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, the report says.
According to the writer, the efforts made by China to occupy the global leader in the semiconductor industry would affect American, Taiwanese, Japanese and South Korean companies in the coming years.
As of 2018, China has allocated 72 billion dollars to achieve the goals of the "Made in China 2025" plan to support the semiconductor industry, and part of the plan is based on employing Taiwanese engineers, while providing financial incentives and rewards for those who bring new technologies from competing companies.
And Stratfor reports that in 2020 a Taiwanese court imposed a fine on the United Microelectronics Company (UMC) of $ 36 million after it was accused by the American chipmaker Micron Technology of stealing trade secrets that benefited Among them is Fujian Jinhua, which is owned by the Chinese government.
The United States has taken tougher measures against China in the semiconductor sector, as the Chinese SMIC blacklisted company SMIC in 2020 and prevented it from accessing some American technologies.
Russia
The author believes that Russia, in turn, poses a major threat to intellectual property in the technology sector, as it continues to strengthen its capabilities in this field.
In fact - the writer says - the Russian economy has historically relied on the energy sector, and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment estimates that natural resources (mostly oil and gas) constitute 60% of GDP, and energy sales constitute 80% of Russia's exports.
But the collapse of oil prices in 2020 and the growing doubts about Europe's dependence on Russian imports, made Moscow realize the importance of diversifying its resources away from energy.
The Russian government has begun to heavily promote the importance of technological services as a profitable and growing industry, but with little success, the writer says.
By the end of 2020, the IT sector in Russia accounted for 8% of the stock market, compared to 27% in the United States and 17% in Japan.
The writer believes that this will make Moscow rely on economic espionage to support the information technology sector, which is in a difficult situation under sanctions, demographic pressure and a brain drain.
In February 2021, Sweden accused one of its citizens, a technical advisor, of passing trade secrets, including Scania and Volvo codes, to a Russian diplomat for several thousand dollars.
The writer adds that the activities of economic espionage and theft of technologies and trade secrets are not limited to China and Russia, but include any country with the following characteristics:
Governmental control: When there is a government that controls the joints of the economy in an authoritarian state, it becomes easy to exercise control over commercial activities and carry out any activities that promote economic growth.
Economic challenges: Countries whose existence or stability depends on the rapid development of their economy are unlikely to respect international standards that prevent various economic espionage activities.
Political competition: There are some examples of espionage operations between the allied countries, but the political consensus is often a deterrent factor against these activities.
Conversely, there may not be any obstacle to spying on a competing country.
Intelligence capabilities: Countries that previously used their intelligence capabilities to spy in strategic and military areas, effectively have the ability to engage in economic espionage activities.
Countries on the China Line
With these characteristics in mind, the author identifies a list of countries that can follow in the footsteps of China and Russia, explaining that this list is not comprehensive, but rather provides examples of countries that are likely to practice economic espionage.
Iran
According to the author, the four characteristics mentioned apply to Iran, as the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, represents the supreme authority in the country, and no decision is taken without his approval.
The military and intelligence services also have a strong influence on the economy.
The National Oil Company and the National Petrochemical Company are directly affiliated with the Ministry of Petroleum, and like Russia, the Iranian economy is highly dependent on the energy sector.
Iran also has a lot of experience in espionage operations outside its borders, and its focus has long been focused on pursuing dissidents and dissidents abroad, but there are recent examples of economic espionage activities, according to Stratfor.
According to the writer, it is likely that its efforts in the coming period will focus on economic espionage activities.
Vietnam
Like China, the Communist Party of Vietnam has complete control over the country, and it controls the joints of the economy through state-owned companies.
The country's largest telecommunications company, Viettel, was established by direct order of the prime minister in 2009, and has an important role to play on the military front, according to Stratfor.
The Vietnamese government has made economic development a top political priority in the latest five-year plan, with a special focus on the manufacturing sector.
Vietnam has become among a group of countries that seek to compete with China in the field of low-cost industries and the practice of economic espionage activities, which may put it at risk, according to the author.
By the end of 2020, the IT sector in Russia accounted for 8% of the stock market (Reuters)
However, these risks do not seem to prevent Vietnam from continuing on this path, and cybersecurity experts believe that the APT-32 group, directly linked to the Vietnamese intelligence services, launched cyber attacks on China in response to the Chinese attack in 2009. 2016 displays the flight information screens of the largest Vietnamese airports.
And at the end of 2019, the German car maker BMW accused Vietnamese hackers of trying to penetrate its networks, and Hyundai and Toyota reported similar activities, according to the report.
North Korea
In this country ruled by one of the most authoritarian regimes in the world, there is a strong relationship between politics and the economy, the report says.
In light of its economic isolation, Pyongyang does not seem to have anything to lose by practicing economic espionage, and it has previously proven that it has high capabilities in the field of cyber piracy.
In 2018, the Egyptian company, Orascom, was hacked, and the finger of blame was directed at North Korea, as it had contracted with Orascom to provide mobile services in the country, and it had an incentive to obtain intellectual property rights.
Although North Korea has the ability to steal trade secrets and all other data and practice economic espionage, it is not clear that it can exploit those secrets on a large scale, according to the author.
The most prominent target countries
Leading technological nations, such as the United States, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the European Union countries, will remain prime targets for economic espionage operations, and other nations are likely to join the list as economies diversify and technology spreads.
The writer believes that the great progress made by China in areas such as artificial intelligence, face recognition and battery technology, could make it a target for this type of espionage.
India is also an attractive target, as the country's IT sector reached about $ 200 billion in 2019, with many leading technology companies setting up research centers focused on artificial intelligence and 5G in India, including Google and Samsung. And Mercedes.