TRADE SECRET PROTECTION IN THE DIGITAL ERA: CYBERSECURITY THREATS AND LEGAL REMEDIES

Abstract

Corporate espionage did not disappear in the digital age. It got cheaper, faster, and dramatically harder to detect. Today, a trade secret that once required a mole inside a company or a briefcase full of stolen documents can be exfiltrated by a skilled adversary in minutes, from the other side of the world, without ever triggering an alarm. This article examines the growing mismatch between the legal architecture designed to protect trade secrets and the cybersecurity realities companies now face. It surveys the primary threat vectors — from nation-state intrusions and ransomware to insider threats and supply chain compromises — and evaluates the legal remedies available under the Defend Trade Secrets Act, state law, and international frameworks. The analysis is candid about the limits of litigation as a response to cyber-enabled misappropriation and proposes a more integrated approach that treats legal and technical protections as inseparable rather than sequential.