GEOPOLITICS8 June 2026· 16 min
Defensive Economic Intelligence: A Playbook for Protecting Strategic Assets
As economic espionage costs corporations over $600B annually, defensive economic intelligence has become a board-level priority. This guide delivers a battle-tested methodology, measurable case studies, and prioritized recommendations to shield your most critical assets.
SOURCES
[1]FBI Economic Espionage Report 2023 — Federal Bureau of Investigation, Counterintelligence Division
[2]EUIPO Annual Report on IP Infringement in the EU — European Union Intellectual Property Office, 2023
[3]Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) 2023 — Verizon Enterprise Security
[4]IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2023 — IBM Security / Ponemon Institute
[5]CrowdStrike Global Threat Report 2023 — CrowdStrike Intelligence
[6]ASIS International Global Security Survey 2023 — ASIS International Foundation
[7]Ponemon Institute: 2023 Cost of Insider Risks Global Report — Proofpoint / Ponemon Institute
[8]Harvard Business School Working Paper: Open Source Intelligence and Competitive Strategy, 2022 — HBS Technology & Operations Management Unit
[9]NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5: Security and Privacy Controls for Information Systems — National Institute of Standards and Technology
[10]EU Trade Secrets Directive 2016/943 and NIS2 Directive 2022/2555 — European Parliament and Council