The in-house security experts

Given their scale, it’s no surprise urprise that tech giants have ave serious internal security teams, ms, drawn from security forces. . The seriousness with which big tech companies pursue their internal security goals is highlighted by the track records of recruits to the positions that oversee internal investigations.

Joseph Vincent, to pick one such professional at random, is Electronic Arts’ head of global intelligence, investigation and incident management. He began his career as a police sergeant with the US Department of Defense, moving to a position as a special agent with the Department of Justice, before spending 11 years with the Department of Homeland Security. On leaving public office, he moved to Google to lead up internal investigations, before joining EA. Clearly this type of employee takes their role seriously, and while it might seem incongruous to have such weighty security individuals in tech companies, their scale makes it almost inevitable.

Professionals are unsurprisingly reluctant to share details, but a trawl through the marketing blurb for one of the contractor companies is illuminating.

“Investigative interviewing is a method of questioning, designed to separate truth from fiction. Interviews are the foundation of many investigations, regardless of whether they’re highly structured or a casual conversation,” runs the sales pitch of security firm Pinkerton. “They’re often employed in cases of corporate theft, fraud, kickbacks, conflicts of interest, extortion and embezzlement.”

If interviews don’t deliver a result, Pinkerton will step up the investigations, potentially placing plants within teams being investigated. “An undercover investigation involves the surreptitious placement of a trained and skilled investigator for the purpose of gathering information that may be impossible to discover otherwise,” Pinkerton boasts.