INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Intellectual property refers to robbing peoples or companies ideas and innovation. Even though intellectual property is intangible, it is essential to secure it. Protection of intellectual property is one of the most crucial business decisions one can make. According to Padgett-Beale Intellectual Property (IP) is very sensitive and should be protected from theft; this includes internal threats as well as external.
Studies expose that more than half of employees can feel a sense of ownership over certain kinds of intellectual property which they think they engineered. In many cases, people fail to realise that their work and creation while on job activities. It happens when both employer and employees put the company at risk because of exposing critical information to the competitors. This occurs through the sharing of company information and data into personal computers.
Most of the companies are at risk due to information linkage. These risked is caused by the employers and the worker of the company. The company fails to educate people regarding the information security of the company. The company also fails to create a better environment that promotes employees responsibility and accountability in protecting business information.
Factors that increase intellectual property are as follows.
First is the backup plan. It is caused by the senior employee in an organisation. He or she can obtain all information about the company to personal software such as computers and phones.
Secondly is the proud Artist. It involves company trusting certain employees to have critical information .the employee believes the data or information belong to him because he put it down.
Lastly is the shifty sales guy. This involves hiring or selling of information’s of one company to another by employees who leave a job to other people.
Suggestions that minimise intellectual property risk.
Employee education. The company should educate their employee about information security and introduces security awareness training.
Enforce a non-disclosure agreement. These involve stronger and specific language agreement that will guarantee the responsibility of any employees. It makes sure that all the employees are aware of the consequences of theft of company information.
Monitoring technology. It involves safeguarding of data in the company and automatics notifications to the owners and all other employees of the company when vital information is wrongly sent or exposed
Intellectual property is a critical issue that most of the company faced in recent time. It is mostly caused by both senior and junior staff of the company. It is facilitated in different ways such as backup plan, proud Artist and shift sales guy, for a company to reduce intellectual property from any source it implements the following measure. Employees education, Enforce non-disclosure agreement and close monitoring of technology in the company.
Reference.
https://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/frenemy-within-insider-theft-intellectual-property.
https://www.networkworld.com/article/2169169/tech-primers/what-litigation-tells-us-about-the-dangers-of-ip-theft.html