Combatting the Threat of Cyber-Enabled IP Theft

Acommon digital future should include a safe and prosperous cyber ecosystem wherein nations can pursue their digital development as well as economic and innovation fairly and competitively. This is threatened by a growing practice among criminals and states to misappropriate and steal intellectual property from other jurisdictions. Since 2015, there has been an agreed normative understanding that states must refrain from cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property. In Antalya, Türkiye, the G20 leaders considered cyber- enabled theft to be detrimental to national security and recognised how it would undermine global digital infrastructure and the economic competitiveness of nations. However, this commitment is yet to translate into broader policy action among the G20 states; state- sponsored economic cyber-espionage activities for commercial gain have quadrupled between 2015 and 2022. Limited understanding of the damage posed by cyber-enabled IP theft to national economies impedes international cooperation and efforts to raise political priority. Furthermore, domestic and regional industries that develop and commercialise high-value IP in the form of IP rights, trade secrets, and sensitive business information require the attention of policymakers. This Policy Brief proposes that the G20 member states should build the capacity of individual states to detect, prevent, and respond to sophisticated cyber intrusions.