The Need for Small Businesses to Implement Counterintelligence

This paper examines the threats that small businesses in the United States face from foreign adversary sanctioned corporate and economic espionage, highlighting companies in innovation and defense fields who rely on intellectual property to provide profits. Small businesses are typically limited in their resources and have, if any, underdeveloped counterintelligence practices that are insufficient in countering threats. This allows foreign adversaries, especially China, Russia, and Iran, to disrupt the United States while strengthening their own respective economies. Through case examples, such as the trial of Liming Li and the FBI’s “The Company Man” production, evidence that attempts to steal intellectual property are constantly occurring is presented. This paper also identifies common misconceptions that small businesses develop, such as the belief they are too small to be targeted, that deter them from implementing counterintelligence practices. Ultimately, a defensive counterintelligence approach is recommended for small businesses to follow with a debate on offensive counterintelligence discussed.