American companies are facing an “unprecedented” onslaught of data theft, costing “hundreds of billions”, according to a report by a private group headed by high-ranking ex-government officials. The report recommends a number of countermeasures, including a suggestion that companies could use electronic means to recover stolen IP.
The Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property includes former government officials such as Dennis Blair, the former U.S. Director of National Intelligence.
"The scale of international theft of American intellectual property (IP) is unprecedented - hundreds of billions of dollars per year, on the order of the size of US exports to Asia," the report said. “The Commission judges that the scope of the problem requires stronger action, involving swifter and more stringent penalties for IP theft.”
The report recommended that the U.S. should, “Support American companies and technology that can both identify and recover IP stolen through cyber means. Without damaging the intruder’s own network, companies that experience cyber theft ought to be able to retrieve their electronic files or prevent the exploitation of their stolen information.”
The report described China as "the world's largest source of IP theft". "National industrial policy goals in China encourage IP theft, and an extraordinary number of Chinese in business and government entities are engaged in this practice," the report said.
