State-Sponsored Economic Cyber-Espionage for Commercial Purposes

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) has launched the world’s first capacity-building initiative dedicated to raising awareness about the threat of economic cyber-espionage in key emerging economies across the Indo-Pacific and Latin America.

Through a series of research reports, case studies, and learning materials, this initiative highlights how economic cyber-espionage is not just a concern for advanced economies—it is a growing risk for emerging economies like India, Brazil, and Indonesia, which are rapidly digitizing their industries.

What is Economic Cyber-Espionage?

Economic cyber-espionage refers to the state-sponsored theft of intellectual property (IP) via cyber means for commercial gain. As nations undergo digital transformation, securing knowledge-based industries is critical for economic security. However, many countries—especially those with lower cybersecurity maturity—are increasingly vulnerable to cyber-enabled IP theft.

In the modern economy, local businesses that trade internationally, critical national industries, and start-ups as well as universities, research and development organisations and public services rely on secure data, digital communications and ICT-enabled systems and applications.

But trust and confidence in the digital economy is threatened by the practice of some states that deploy offensive cyber capabilities against industries, organisations and individuals in other states. Those who operate in environments with lower levels of cybersecurity maturity are particularly vulnerable to fall victim to cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property.

Project Activities and Findings

This project has included a series of workshops and engagements in India, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, bringing together officials and experts to discuss cyber threats that endanger national economies and innovation sectors.

For this project, ASPI has also published three reports, which can be downloaded on the right.

1. State-sponsored economic cyber-espionage for commercial purposes: Tackling an invisible but persistent risk to prosperity (2022): Highlights how state-sponsored cyber-espionage has intensified, with more targeted industries and universities now based in emerging economies
2. State-sponsored economic cyber-espionage for commercial purposes: Assessing the preparedness of emerging economies to respond to cyber-enabled IP theft: Evaluates the readiness of 11 emerging economies—including Argentina, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam—to counteract cyber-enabled IP theft.
3. State-sponsored economic cyber-espionage for commercial purposes: Governmental practices in protecting IP-Intensive industries: Reviews how governments around the world are responding to the threat of economic cyber-espionage and considers how states are employing, among others, legislative, defensive, and reactive measures.

On 15 November 2022, ASPI also issued a Briefing Note recommending that the G20 members recognise that state-sponsored ICT-enabled theft of IP remains a key concern for international cooperation and encouraging them to reaffirm their commitment made in 2015 to refrain from economic cyber-espionage for commercial purposes.

Videos and Podcasts

Explore the videos and podcasts we have produced to help you make sense of economic cyber-espionage.

Project Team

This team is led by CTS Deputy Director Bart Hogeveen and CTS senior analyst Dr. Gatra Priyandita. We thank the support and contributions of other serving and former ASPI staff, including Urmika Deb, Dr. Ben Stevens, Dr. Teesta Prakash, and Shivangi Seth. This project involved input from researchers from across the world, including those in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. We thank them for their contributions.