The digital era has brought a multitude of opportunities, and unique challenges for businesses. Industrial espionage and sabotage has always been a threat to corporations, but the digital age presents new tools and weapons. Acts of online sabotage may involve discrediting a business’s products/service with negative (and often fake) reviews, as well as running a link spam campaign to cause a Google penalty, or even hacking a website.
These methods can have incredibly detrimental consequences on business operations, if utilised. However, how likely are businesses to sabotage their competitors? According to a survey by Reboot Digital, nearly one-in-five business leaders would consider sabotaging a competitor if the thought they would get away with it. Motives for digital sabotage can be as petty as a competitor having a ‘better product’.
For more details and statistics about the current state of industrial sabotage, look at the infograph below, or read the research here.
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