Organizations continue to unknowingly leak trade secrets on the Internet. To those in the know, these leaks are a valuable source of competitive intelligence. This talk describes how the speaker collects competitive intelligence for his own online retail business. Specifically, you learn how he combines, trends, and analyzes information within specific contexts to manufacture useful data that is real, but technically doesn't exist on it's own. For example, you will learn about the trade secrets that are hidden within sequential numbers, how he uses collected intelligence to procure inventory, and how and why he gauges the ongoing health of his industry and that of his competitors. And on a related note, you'll also learn how the federal government nearly exposed an entire generation to identity fraud.
Michael Schrenk has presented six DEF CON talks on intelligence and organizational privacy, including last year's talk "You're Leaking Trade Secrets". He has developed Internet-based intelligence campaigns since 1995 for organizations as diverse as: Fortune 500 Companies, Private Investigators, Asian Art Dealers, and Investigative Journalists. His adventures in intelligence have taken him around the world, with speaking opportunities in The Middle East, Eastern Europe, The UK, Silicon Valley, and most places in between. Mike is also the author of "Webbots, Spiders, and Screen Scrapers (2007 & 2012, No Starch Press, San Francisco)". He is again teaming with No Starch Press to write a non-technical Intelligence and Counterintelligence book scheduled for publication in Q1 2016. Twitter: @mgschrenk Facebook: facebook.com/webbots