Legal Brief: Insider Theft Leads to Customer Poaching
July 23, 2024
Security Business Magazine
Types : Bylined Articles
Lessons learned from the recent ADT vs. Skyline Security case
Recently, I received a random marketing call from someone purporting to be from my cable/internet/phone provider. I was tempted to ignore it, but having experienced recent internet connectivity issues, I elected to take the call as an opportunity to register my concerns. The caller identified himself, stated he was with the cable company and said he was calling to ensure that I was happy with my service. This seemed a little unusual to me and somewhat unprecedented in our many years with this company, so, I was mildly suspicious. He had detailed information about my account, the pricing, my equipment, etc., which added a degree of authenticity to the call and put me at ease that he was earnestly from my actual service provider.
My skepticism was also the result of my professional experience. I have litigated and written about cases involving theft of trade secrets, improper customer solicitation and unfair competition.
In the security industry, information about customers’ current pricing, contract information, equipment, and related account information is highly valuable to identifying target customers and marketing to prospective customers. Misappropriation of that information permits competitors to target customers with specific price and equipment proposals that the competitor may not otherwise offer.