这是一个秘密So keep it that way--protect your proprietary information.

Thanks to technology, information theft is a growth industrythese days-and companies are losing money. A survey jointlyconducted by the American Society for Industrial Security andPricewaterhouse-Coopers, found that proprietary information theftcost Fortune 1,000 companies more than $45 billion in 1999.

Even if you're not a major corporation, you still haveproprietary information to protect, and smaller companies oftenhave a tougher job protecting themselves than larger corporationswith dedicated security staffs. According toBill Boni, a former director atPricewaterhouse-Coopers' investigation group in Los Angeles andco-author of the survey, "Even though legal safeguards doexist for information theft, they're after the fact, so if youdon't have a large war chest to spend on attorney's fees,safeguarding your information is the best thing to do."