It's a fact—not everyone likes the United States. A recently published report indicated that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) special economic espionage unit (created in 2010) had over 2,000 active domestic cases related to counterintelligence operations from one major foreign adversary with an additional case being opened every ten minutes. The economic impact on the U.S. economy through the loss (counterfeit, pirated, or theft) of intellectual property is a main concern to policymakers in the U.S. Government and is estimated to be between $225-600 billion dollars annually with a single foreign state responsible for the bulk of this figure (71-87%).
Protection of personnel, facilities, innovative ideas and housed data and information
2,000 active FBI special economic espionage unit domestic cases related to counterintelligence operations from one major foreign adversary
$225-$600 billionEstimated annual loss of intellectual property
Industrial espionage has been around for over a century and has largely focused on acquiring military and government secrets; commercial espionage has become more common in recent years. Because of its longer history, theft of military secrets (technical and operational) as well as commercial business secrets (product innovation) has been understood by most Americans. What is less clear to many people is the nefarious penetration of universities by foreign actors who desire to accumulate and advance their own data, knowledge, and expertise through any possible method (legal and illegal, moral and immoral, ethical and unethical). This approach in research runs counter to the American understanding of the free exchange of information and knowledge obtained through intense but honest and equal collaboration.
The term academic espionage can be defined as violating core principles of integrity by the practice of obtaining, using, or distributing the information, data, or methods that are used in the university's research enterprise through unethical, dishonest, or illegal means to unauthorized individuals, companies, or nation states. Academic espionage poses threats to the university community through risks associated with the integrity of the research enterprise (violations of responsible and ethical conduct of research; actions that undermine peer review and grant award processes), risks to economic security (hidden diversions of research and/or resources that weaken the innovative base and threaten economic competitiveness) and risks to U.S. national security (hidden diversions of research and/or resources that threaten U.S. leadership in emerging science and technology).