Corporate espionage is entering a new era

of the cloak-and-dagger variety, it is hard to beat or . But the world of corporate spying has plenty of drama, too. Take the alleged skulduggery in a recent court case involving two American software firms. In May a jury awarded Appian, based in Virginia, $2bn in damages after it had accused Pegasystems, from Massachusetts, of illegally snooping on it to gain a competitive edge. The trial revealed that Pegasystems executives had referred to a contractor hired to obtain ingredients of Appian’s secret sauce as “our spy” in internal documents, and had dubbed the overall effort “Project Crush”. Pegasystems, whose share price slumped after the ruling, and which is set to face a barrage of class-action suits from disgruntled investors, has vowed to appeal against the “unjust” decision.The episode illustrates how interest in business espionage has broadened. Snooping is no longer centred on a few “sensitive” industries, such as defence and pharmaceuticals. It is increasingly used to target smaller companies in surprising sectors, including education and agriculture. It has, in short, become a general business risk. Corporate espionage may be entering an era not unlike the cold war heyday of great-power .