Spooked: Espionage in Corporate America

Penenberg and Barry deserve high praise for shining a light on corporate espionage and for bringing Penenberg's snappy prose style to bear on what would be a dull topic otherwise. There should be more books of this caliber on this subject.

As a drone in the so-called "information economy," this book had some insights that were compelling - and a bit unsettling. The past few years have seen a rise in the importance of intellectual property as a business asset. They've also seen an amazing increase in the flow of information about and between businesses. Both of these set the stage for rampant corporate espionage. This book is one of the first to show how this is all unfolding. The ramifications for all companies seem pretty vast, the more so since hardly anyone seems to be thinking abou this. That smiling business partner/customer/reporter could be a spy (though spies don't like that word) sent by a competitor to steal information about your crown jewels.Apart from this, it's a great read. Lively writing, good storytelling and lots of details about different companies that keep things moving along nicely. Well worth a look for people in business and people interested in issues and trends that are just cresting on the horizon.

Spooked is a fast-paced, entertaining expose of the darker, hidden side of corporate America. Filled with suspense, and compelling, often creepy, real-life characters, I would highly recommend this intriguing book to anyone with an interest in how big business truly operates.

It's amazing what someone can find if they just look. We live our lives firm in the belief that America's biggest companies are run by managers who work for shareholder value and bigger marketshare. Though we cheer the best results, we rarely ask more than a few questions on how the goals are archieved. "Spooked" is a lesson learned on that front. Penenberg and Barry showed me that espionage didn't go out with the Cold War. Information mining and theft are a big part of a company's arsenal, perhaps its most important. The book went through several cases describing wholesale theft and retribution that leaves noone innocent. A real eye-opener of a book that I couldn't put down. I highly recommend it for anyone who owns stocks.

Finally, some relief from the tedium of hacker hysteria and insight into where real crimes will occur in the 21st Century: in the hallways and boardrooms and offices of Corporate America. Penenberg and Barry walk us through tension filled pages of spy/ counter spy, agents and double-triple agents until one is convinced you're reading a DeMille spook thriller but presto! change-o! you realize that this is ALL true!Interestingly the Justice Department, unlike its dealings with hackers, seems to be developing a clue as to the extent and the difficuty of putting this kind of national and international crime on the front burner.So, as we really enter the 21st Century, and corporate power extends its dominance, this is the book which leds you understand that 21st Century crime isn't going to be persons against personw, nations against nations, but rather coporations against corporations. So, if you're interested in what that new battlefield might look like -- SPOOKED is the single best place to begin.