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Helping Hands
Tom Mahlik and Kevin Favreau of the FBI are working with the private sector to enhance corporate security and to promote national security
By Marleah Blades
Security Technology & Design
“We’re with the FBI.”
Those four words, uttered by a couple of strangers flashing badges on the doorstep, are enough to make nearly anyone nervous. Historically, they have been particularly nerve-wracking for terrorists, spies, cybercriminals…and CEOs.
When the FBI shows up at a corporation to investigate a potential problem, corporate executives probably do not immediately think of them as friends working to protect the company and the nation. While they recognize the important role the FBI plays in national security, they can’t help but visualize the worst-case scenario and see them as a potential concern for shareholders and corporate reputation.
Fortunately, that is all beginning to change. The FBI’s Counterintelligence (CI) Domain Program is positioning the Bureau in a much more proactive stance by building pre-incident dialog and information-sharing partnerships with businesses, academia and other government agencies.
Security executives and directors in organizations of all types may soon find themselves working with the Bureau to harden their organizations ahead of an incident. Companies big and small, international and domestic, all participate in activities that could invite cyber attacks, terrorism and counterintelligence activities — private security threats that fall directly within FBI’s new focus.
The Risks and Opportunities of Going Global
A number of factors contributed to this focus shift within the Bureau, but chief among them are the myriad threats to the public and private sector posed by globalization. “The worldwide expansion of businesses and universities is a good thing, and the FBI doesn’t want to stand in the way of that,” says Kevin Favreau, Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division. “But institutions that go abroad need to be aware of the risks they’ll face as a result of their decision.”
The speed of business and information transfer over the Internet has combined with other factors to allow businesses to disperse their offices and factories to take advantage of lower costs and efficiencies that may be leveraged from abroad. “For many companies, it makes sense from a business perspective to outsource or offshore manufacturing or R&D,” Favreau says. “This helps companies gain competitive advantage in today’s global market. The business landscape is now the world as opposed to one country.” Similarly, universities are launching international campuses, both to open new opportunities for domestic students and to draw in talented students from overseas. U.S. universities have always attracted foreign nationals to their U.S. campuses as well, but whereas these students used to remain in this country after completing their education, they are now routinely returning to their homelands, in effect exporting new knowledge and talent to other countries.
New businesses or academic campuses that are based abroad may inadvertently put tangible and intangible assets within easier reach of foreign threats, such as terrorists and criminals. Further exacerbating the risk, the host country’s government may not be able to prevent or respond to the threats, and they may not be able to dedicate enough enforcement resources to offset them. On the cyber security front, businesses or universities that rely more heavily on online or digital transmission of data due to geographical distance may suffer more heavily from cyber attacks if not properly secured.
