• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military

2

Costco CEO Ron Vachris rose from forklift driver to the C-suite without a college degree: ‘Don’t chase a title’ is the career advice that got him there

3

'We are rapidly running out of time': Watchdog sounds Social Security alarm after 22% cut confirmed for 2032

1

Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military

2

Costco CEO Ron Vachris rose from forklift driver to the C-suite without a college degree: ‘Don’t chase a title’ is the career advice that got him there

3

'We are rapidly running out of time': Watchdog sounds Social Security alarm after 22% cut confirmed for 2032
CommentaryCybersecurity

Raytheon CEO: Why Your Own Employees Could Be Your Greatest Threat

By
Thomas A. Kennedy
Thomas A. Kennedy
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Thomas A. Kennedy
Thomas A. Kennedy
Down Arrow Button Icon
August 14, 2018, 2:13 PM ET

Is there a bounty on your intellectual property?

It’s more likely than you think. Earlier this month, news broke that FBI agents investigating a case of corporate cyber theft seized a handbook revealing what China was willing to pay to “individuals or entities who can provide certain technologies.”

Nation-states have been using cyber hacking to actively target valuable intellectual property, or IP, for years. However, what may be startling to the public is that state-sponsored IP theft is so organized and methodical; criminal hackers receive catalogs of the most-wanted technologies, referred to as “collection requirements,” each with associated bounties.

For business, university, and research lab leaders, it begs a couple of questions: Do any of your employees have such handbooks? And if they were stockpiling and exporting sensitive data, would you know before it was too late?

This most recent cyber theft report is a classic example of what we call the “insider threat,” a term encompassing cyber problems that originate from authorized users of a network. It also demonstrates the increasingly sophisticated tactics bad actors use to steal corporate IP. The employee in this example was accused of smuggling highly sensitive technical documents by placing an encrypted file into the coding of a digital image of a sunset. He then emailed this image to a personal address.

According to the criminal complaint, both federal investigators and corporate IT experts said this was the first time they had seen these types of sophisticated tactics (known as steganographic exfiltration) used to steal corporate IP. This incident is a good reminder that the insider threat—indeed, all cyber threats—continue to adapt and evolve to defeat security measures.

Not all insider threats to your IP are malicious. Some are employees who practice poor cyber hygiene, such as visiting unsafe websites, clicking on links in emails from people they don’t know, or plugging outside USBs into their work computers without confirming those devices aren’t compromised. Any of these activities could introduce a virus or malware into your system, undermining the stoutest network protections.

But sometimes insiders can go rogue, prompted by dissatisfaction, jealousy, greed, or other factors. Earlier this summer, Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote in a company email that an employee had admitted to “quite extensive and damaging sabotage of our operations.” The employee was upset he had not received a promotion, Musk wrote.

A knowledgeable insider using a new generation of hacking tools could steal terabytes worth of valuable IP in a matter of minutes. This is why, according to Raytheon’s 2018 Study on Global Megatrends in Cybersecurity, IT professionals across the globe are more worried about malicious or criminal insiders (36%) than they are about nation-state attackers (30%) or hacktivists (27%).

A primary step every organization should take to address insider risks is to implement a clear set of policies governing technology usage. For example, not every employee should have access to sensitive IP files. Your IT teams should know which sections of your networks are off-limits and monitor for attempts at inappropriate access. Employees should also be trained and reminded about risky online work behaviors, and how their actions could impact the company.

In addition, organizations need to increasingly take a user-centric approach to cybersecurity. A data-centric approach, which limits who can access what information, may stop unauthorized visitors from downloading sensitive files. But a user-centric focus uses artificial intelligence and other technologies to help identify early-warning signs that an employee has gone rogue and may be trying to collect a bounty on your IP. These programs flag aberrant user behaviors, such as stockpiling documents or sudden changes in the way an employee types on a keyboard, which could indicate that someone has hijacked their credentials.

Your employees and your IP are likely your organization’s most valuable assets. With the help of some proactive policies and technology, you can prevent one asset from stealing the other and hurting your organization’s value, reputation, customers, and employees.

Thomas A. Kennedy is the chairman and CEO of Raytheon, a defense and cybersecurity company.

About the Author
By Thomas A. Kennedy
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Commentary

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Commentary

Digital sovereignty isn’t the same thing as digital isolation. Asia’s governments should be careful
Commentarydata sovereignty
Digital sovereignty isn’t the same thing as digital isolation. Asia’s governments should be careful
By Leonard LimJune 10, 2026
6 hours ago
tim
CommentaryAirline industry
Merlin CTO: autonomy can rebuild the foundation of aviation — and national security
By Tim BurnsJune 9, 2026
2 days ago
dewar
CommentaryLeadership
I founded McKinsey’s CEO practice: Here’s why operational excellence is a liability right now
By Carolyn DewarJune 9, 2026
2 days ago
250
Commentary250 Years of Innovation
America turns 250. Its greatest innovation was never a product — it was a system that let anyone build one
By Keith KrachJune 7, 2026
4 days ago
sabes
CommentaryRetirement
Retiring at 62 costs the average American $250,000. Here’s the math (and the neuroscience) that explain why
By Jon SabesJune 7, 2026
4 days ago
da
CommentaryIPOs
The short seller’s argument nobody on the coming mega IPO roadshow wants you to make
By Bhaskar ChakravortiJune 7, 2026
4 days ago

Most Popular

Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military
Asia
Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military
By Kate O'Keeffe and BloombergJune 8, 2026
2 days ago
Costco CEO Ron Vachris rose from forklift driver to the C-suite without a college degree: ‘Don’t chase a title’ is the career advice that got him there
Success
Costco CEO Ron Vachris rose from forklift driver to the C-suite without a college degree: ‘Don’t chase a title’ is the career advice that got him there
By Preston ForeJune 8, 2026
2 days ago
'We are rapidly running out of time': Watchdog sounds Social Security alarm after 22% cut confirmed for 2032
Economy
'We are rapidly running out of time': Watchdog sounds Social Security alarm after 22% cut confirmed for 2032
By Nick LichtenbergJune 9, 2026
1 day ago
Analysts expected oil to surge above $200 but China has quietly kept prices half of that—and can’t for much longer
Energy
Analysts expected oil to surge above $200 but China has quietly kept prices half of that—and can’t for much longer
By Sasha RogelbergJune 10, 2026
9 hours ago
Wall Street dumped nearly $1 trillion in tech stocks by midday—then clawed it back and bought peanut butter and paint
Investing
Wall Street dumped nearly $1 trillion in tech stocks by midday—then clawed it back and bought peanut butter and paint
By Eva RoytburgJune 9, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of oil as of June 9, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 9, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 9, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.