How to Protect Your Business Trade Secrets From Being Stolen

Are you familiar with the Waymo v. Uber trade secrets case? An employee took 14,000 documents containing sensitive data, which resulted in a US$1.859 billion claim and a settlement of around US$245 million. How could something like this happen? Especially with companies of this caliber? Waymo stated they had been following sufficient security precautions to protect trade secrets. Things like encryption, security cameras, and confidentiality agreements. Of course, as the case would show, that wasn’t enough. 

A Waymo competitor likely obtained access to Waymo’s information. During the court hearings, Waymo had to explain the measures they used were consistent with the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA). Yet, somehow over 14,000 documents filled with sensitive data were leaked. 

The question we have to be asking ourselves here is: How can a company take “reasonable measures” to satisfy DTSA requirements and protect it against theft of trade secrets?

Here are some ways that can help your business trade secrets from ending up in the wrong hands.

Identify and mark your trade secrets:

One way to protect a company’s trade secret is to understand what information is considered to be (and should be) guarded as a trade secret. What information requires secrecy? Once an institution can establish this, the information should be deemed a trade secret, identified, and marked confidential.

Limit and track access to trade secret information:

As soon as trade secrets are marketed, access must be immediately restricted. Limit the disclosure of the information only to the people “need to know” it to perform their tasks adequately. Not sure how to control access? Taking precautionary steps like physical security, passwords, encryption, and data segregation are the best ways to start. We saw a good example of this after the Waymo case played out. Waymo employees who were working on projects unrelated to self-driving cars were prevented from obtaining the information they did not need to know.

How to manage secret information:

Yes, you can take initial proactive steps to protect trade secret information, and that’s a great start! But now, you have to be mindful that continuing to manage the trade secrets is critical. Some steps to secure information like password-protected servers and folders, and employing a third-party internet security company to protect its servers from outside hacking is a great way to keep your info safe.

Sharing sensitive information:

Companies and individuals will inevitably have to send and share confidential information over the internet. Especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. People don’t have the option to hand-deliver files anymore. Trustwire is a platform that allows users to send and receive files online without the risks. Using end-to-end encryption, only the rightful receiver of the file will gain access to it. No one else, including Trustwire, will be given access to view the file. 

When you need to keep your private information safe on the internet, trust Trustwire.

Freelancers Are the New Cloud Computing| What Does The Future Hold?

Will we see a spike in traditional employees being replaced more and more by freelancers who live and work remotely?

Cloud computing has changed the tech game forever. Cloud computing is undoubtedly one of the most beneficial innovations for tech entrepreneurs since the invention of high-speed internet. They now have the power to move capital expenses to and scale their computing power as the business changes. It seems as though we’re entering a new phase of the future, and coronavirus aside, we’re seeing more and more employees being replaced by freelancers who live and work remotely.

The advantages of a remote team of employees?

• Save money. No more renting pricey office spaces.


• Acquire talent from all around the world. Freelancer platforms like Upwork and Fiverr are jam-packed with rockstar people looking for work. Maybe the best fit for the job is a person who lives in Canada, Nebraska, or Tel Aviv.


• Working from home is fun for most. People like the freedom of working remotely. No more dressing up for work or having to be in the office at 9 am sharp.

The disadvantages and challenges:

Of course, there are some considerable downsides to think about. Like, how can you develop a reliable team without ever meeting in person, and can you really rely solely on remote workers to do a job? It depends on the line of work, but many companies are saying they need their workers to be on the front line in the office.

One of the biggest challenges during this new remote working trend is undoubtedly the added security risk. Major corporations have already been the target of cybersecurity threats for years. What happens when their workers do their jobs remotely on unsecured wi-fi networks from their home or a cafe? Well, for hackers, you might as well say Christmas came early. This new breeding ground of vulnerable employees poses a significant threat to security. To avoid any security mishaps, employers are asking their workers to use secure software systems to send and receive sensitive information securely. Trustwire is 100% end-to-end encrypted, meaning no one other than the owner and rightful recipient of a file will be able to access it. The trick to outsmarting dangerous online predators is never to give them the option to hack into your system.

What’s the Solution?

Because this new working from home era is still so fresh, it’s hard to say what will happen if 50% of employees work from home in five years? Some experts suggest hiring remote freelancers for more mundane and menial tasks, and it’s proven to be very useful. However, the difference between a simple lead gen task and a sophisticated marketing strategy could not be more different. Will companies continue to allow employees to work from home, even after the pandemic passes? Only time will tell.

To learn more about how Trustwire can be a useful tool against ransomware attacks and other cybercrimes.