LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook are the latest front in corporate espionage, said Kashmir Hill in Forbes. Corporate spies are mining social-media sites for insight into companies’ projects, partners, and financials. A security firm in Bangalore, India, recently predicted a Singaporean company’s bankruptcy “based on employees’ tweets about the company’s belt-tightening” and an executive’s job-hunting post on LinkedIn. Cyberspies got a New York executive to reveal sensitive data by posing as an attractive blonde on Facebook. Not that spies even need loose lips. A company’s hiring patterns on LinkedIn are enough to give away its expansion plans. “It’s a lot easier to get good info now without doing anything dirty,” says security consultant Sean Campbell. “Whether companies like it or not, they’ve become a lot more see-through.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'New arrivals are more than paying for themselves'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
6 stylish homes in Portland, OregonFeature Featuring a wall of windows in Collins View and a historic ballroom in Portland Heights
-
What's next for US interest rates?The Explainer Stubborn inflation forestalls anticipated rate cuts
-
The news at a glance...Internationalfeature International
-
The bottom line
feature Youthful startup founders; High salaries for anesthesiologists; The myth of too much homework; More mothers stay a home; Audiences are down, but box office revenue rises
-
The week at a glance...Americas
feature Americas
-
The news at a glance...United States
feature United States
-
The news at a glance
feature Comcast defends planned TWC merger; Toyota recalls 6.39 million vehicles; Takeda faces $6 billion in damages; American updates loyalty program; Regulators hike leverage ratio
-
The bottom line
feature The rising cost of graduate degrees; NSA surveillance affects tech profits; A glass ceiling for female chefs?; Bonding to a brand name; Generous Wall Street bonuses
-
The news at a glance
feature GM chief faces Congress; FBI targets high-frequency trading; Yellen confirms continued low rates; BofA settles mortgage claims for $9.3B; Apple and Samsung duke it out
-
The week at a glance...International
feature International