Strategic Importance of Industrial Espionage in the Turkish Defence Industry and the Development of Counterintelligence Awareness Against Espionage Methodologies

Abstract

In the 21st century, the qualitative and quantitative diversification of information technology products has significantly increased the vital dependence of all institutions, both public and private, on information and technology. Although this transformation has provided companies with substantial resource savings and operational efficiency, it has also exposed them to a cyber environment characterized by limited oversight and insufficient control. In other words, the information technology systems and infrastructures established by companies that could not remain indifferent to this technological transformation have become vulnerable to threats such as highly sophisticated data theft, information exfiltration, and the misappropriation of technological know-how. Consequently, largescale corporations have been compelled to protect, on the one hand, all digital activities transferred into virtual environments, and, on the other hand, the technologies produced through Research and Development (R&D) activities against cyber-originated threats. The aim of this study is to conduct a strategic analysis of the adoption of Counter-Intelligence (CI) principles and the construction of CI awareness—both at the corporate and employee levels—in order to protect the industrial property rights and commercial/technological secrets legally possessed by Turkish defence industry companies, whose economic and political significance is considerable, against illegal industrial espionage attacks and their methodologies. Within this framework, the study tests the following hypothesis: the establishment of counter-intelligence awareness among managers and employees in Turkish defence industry companies regarding industrial espionage methodologies constitutes a strategically significant precaution for preventing potential industrial espionage attacks and minimizing possible damage. All data and information obtained in this study were acquired from open sources, and thematic analysis and document review approaches, which are widely accepted qualitative analysis methods in the literature, were utilized. The fact that sufficient analysis or evaluation on the subject has not been reflected in either the literature or open sources is among the most important limitations of the study, but it also adds to its originality. In this context, the content of the limited publications and documents on the subject that are reflected in open sources has been analysed according to certain rules, and an attempt has been made to reach final conclusions.