CIA, Inc.: Espionage and the Craft of Business Intelligence

Every major government on earth recognizes the value of intelligence and employs an intelligence service to collect it for them. Businesses should be no different. Knowing how to gather information about the strength of your competitors, being able to anticipate their next move, and preventing them from stealing your secrets are critical keys to success in the new economy. Executives, entrepreneurs, and business school students must realize that the success of their companies partially depends on their effectiveness in the realm of business intelligence. This book teaches the principles of intelligence and counterintelligence, using the CIA’s methods as a model for the business world.

CIA, Inc., explores the major aspects of business intelligence, including competitor intelligence, risk analysis, business and market analysis, counterintelligence, background investigations, due diligence, and security surveys. F. W. Rustmann draws on his experience as a CIA operations officer and a pioneer in the field of corporate intelligence to describe the collection, analysis, authentication, and reporting of intelligence.

F. W. Rustmann, Jr., is a twenty-four-year veteran of the CIA’s Clandestine Service. He retired in 1990 as a member of the elite Senior Intelligence Service (SIS) with the equivalent rank of major general. He was also an instructor at the CIA’s legendary covert training facility, “the Farm.” After retiring from the CIA, he founded CTC International Group, Inc., a pioneer in the field of business intelligence and a recognized leader in the industry. His numerous articles on business intelligence have appeared in the Baltimore Sun, Miami Herald, Palm Beach Sentinel, and elsewhere. He lives in Palm Beach, Florida.