Chapter 3. Insider Theft of Intellectual Property

Insider theft of intellectual property (IP): an insider’s use of IT to steal proprietary information from the organization. This category includes industrial espionage involving insiders.

Intellectual property: intangible assets created and owned by an organization that are critical to achieving its mission.1

1. While IP does not generally include individuals’ Personally Identifiable Information (PII), which an organization does not own, it could include a database that the organization developed that contains PII.

Types of IP Stolen

The types of IP stolen in the cases in our database include the following:

• Proprietary software/source code

• Business plans, proposals, and strategic plans

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