By CATHERINE DOMINGUEZ
San Antonio Business Journal

The FBI is ramping up its efforts locally and across the country to protect the technology and trade secrets of American businesses and universities through a recently unveiled program focused on economic espionage.

According to FBI officials, the United States is a prime target of foreign spies seeking to steal away critical information - not only military plans and national security secrets, but also valuable technological and business trade secrets.

"It's significant," says Chris Eldredge, special agent with the San Antonio FBI field office, referring to the risk of losing that information. "As a country, we are greatly at risk with our military technology and business technology."

According to the FBI, there are more funds spent on research and development by the U.S. government and industry than in any other country in the world.

Through two recently launched initiatives, called the Business Alliance and the Academic Alliance, FBI officials are now reaching out to area universities and businesses to inform them about what they can do to help protect their research and development. Both efforts are being run out of the bureau's Counterintelligence Domain Program.

FBI counterintel experts have developed materials outlining risk factors and what business and university leaders can do to protect their trade secrets. Agents will also visit businesses and universities to present the information to employees and students.

Also partnering with the FBI in this effort to educate the business and university communities are the Defense Security Service; Army Counterintelligence; Naval Criminal Investigative Service; Air Force Office of Special Investigations; and Department of Commerce.

Identifying the threat

Eldredge says other countries know that American technologies, trade and military secrets will help them modernize their militaries and build their economies. He adds that their interest can range from big innovations that give the United States a leg up in the global marketplace to common or harmless technologies that could actually be used in developing or improving weapons.

"The way to protect our country is through awareness and education," Eldredge says.

According to information provided by the FBI, trade secrets involve all forms and types of financial, business, scientific, technical, economic or engineering information or data.

"These trade secrets, if stolen, will, and have, put companies out of business," Eldredge says. "Corporate America is worried about losing its trade secrets."

Jim Poage, president and CEO of the San Antonio Technology Accelerator Initiative, says the risk of losing critical information is becoming more widespread in the business community. Poage says it is important for the FBI to educate businesses and universities about those increasing risks.

"This is a risk 10 or 15 years ago that we didn't think about," Poage says. "Today, it is a real risk and few of us understand how to deal with it and how much of a risk it is."

Poage says the program could be very beneficial to companies.

"This is where the government can play a good role and advise businesses when there is a risk," he says.

How to ‘make a dent'

Raising awareness among business leaders and educators is key to the success of the program, FBI officials say. By doing that, Eldredge says, the United States can get a handle on the problem and help secure the country's economic future.

The first step for protecting vital information is to identify it, Eldredge says. That includes protecting sensitive research, technologies and information. He adds that unclassified information can be just as critical to protect.

Companies must then develop and implement security or protection programs to monitor the information, including educating employees on how to identify threats.

"The FBI is interested in protecting companies," he says. "We can make a dent, and we have made a dent. The way we can make a dent is to partner with corporate America and academia."

He adds that a critical leg of the effort is academia. Universities engaged in innovative research and development are clearly targets of foreign espionage agents, FBI officials say.

"A lot of research for cutting-edge security is taking place at universities," he says. "We are partnering with academia to protect the U.S."

However, David Spencer, owner of Mandelbrot Ventures Inc., says it is important not to send the wrong message to students from other countries who are attending our universities.

"Every business has to be concerned about trade secrets," he says. "But I hope this concern isn't used as an argument to limit bringing foreign nationals to our country."

Spencer says it is important to have students from other countries here in America to capitalize on their knowledge.

"I would rather have all the smart people coming to America and risk the one or two that are here for nefarious reasons," he says. "I'd rather risk that, rather than turn all those brains away from America and have them out there in the world where they have to compete against us because we are too stupid let them come here and be part of us."