...anyone nervous. Historically, have been particularly nerve-wracking for terrorists, spies, cybercriminals...and CEOs.

When the FBI shows up at a corporation to investigate a potential problem, corporate executives probably do not immediately think of them as friends working to protect the company and the nation. While they recognize the important role the FBI plays in national security, they can't help but visualize the worst-case scenario and see them as a potential concern for shareholders and corporate reputation.

Fortunately, that is all beginning to change. The FBI's Counterintelligence (CI) Domain Program is positioning the Bureau in a much more proactive stance by building pre-incident dialog and information-sharing partnerships with businesses, academia and other government agencies.

Security executives and directors in organizations of all types may soon find themselves working with the Bureau to harden their organizations ahead of an incident. Companies big and small, international and domestic, all participate in activities that could invite cyber attacks, terrorism and counterintelligence activities -- private security threats that fall directly within FBI's new focus.

The Risks and Opportunities of Going Global

A number of factors contributed to this focus shift within the Bureau, but chief among them are the myriad threats to the public and private sector posed by globalization. "The worldwide expansion of businesses and universities is a good thing, and the FBI doesn't want to stand in the way of that," says Kevin Favreau, Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI's Counterintelligence Division. "But institutions that go abroad need to be aware of the risks they'll face as a result of their decision."

The speed of business and information transfer over the Internet has...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.



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