When Friends Spy on Friends

By CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY

IN THE POST-COLD WAR WORLD, INDUSTRIAL SPYING IS A HOT issue. Recently the threat of espionage cast a pall over U.S. firms planning displays at June's Paris Air Show. Now the CIA, the FBI and other American intelligence agencies are racing to finish their first-ever systematic study of the problem of foreign governments' spying on American companies. "There is an ongoing effort right now to scope out the size of it," says a senior intelligence official. "Our answer in the past has been too anecdotal. The point of this study is to move from the anecdotal to the analytical." An initial report could be ready by next month. The results, of course, will be classified.