Are inventions at risk to cyber attacks?

New inventions are the source of the exciting changes we see in technology, media, transportation, and pretty much every aspect of our lives.  Could the process of turning an idea into a real life-changing invention be at risk to cyber attacks?

According to Mark Anderson, the publisher of Strategic News Service and host of the tech conference Future in Review, the base for the invention process is under attack.  Intellectual Property (IP) theft is on the rise despite the public's ignorance of it at large.  IP is the crux of invention and innovation.  Businesses and corporations try to keep their ideas for new products secret.  However, because of our digital dependence, there is a hidden backdoor for cyber thieves to enter and steal ideas.

Piracy isn't something being ignored by governments around the world.  One case is point is that the Pentagon recently announced their plan to triple cyber security with goals for 6,000 cyber security professionals in 2016.

The private market is also working to stop piracy.  Anderson has joined forces with other big name corporations to form a consortium called INVNT/IP (pronounced “invent IP”) to combat this threat.  The members choose to keep a low profile perhaps in an effort to protect themselves and their efforts; however, Google has admitted being part of INVNT/IP.

The RAND Corporation believes that cyber attacks will outpace companies' abilities to defend unless we change the economics of hacking.  Right now cyber black markets are more profitable than drug trafficking.  Active Defenses like “intrusion deception to actively identify, disrupt and frustrate attackers” seems to be helpful in halting attacks.

As long as piracy continues, new inventions and innovations are at risk.  Innovators may hesitate to go through the demanding process of making their ideas into a reality only to have their efforts stolen and produced by foreign companies.  With billions of dollars in loss of profits and a weakened ability to create jobs, IP theft is impacting all of our economies not to mention posing health and safety hazards.

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