Great. Thank you for that question. There are risks, and it depends on which country we're looking at. Specifically recall that we talked about state-owned enterprises and partnering with those.
This is where, depending on the Canadian business, there's quite a lot of advice out there. It's about understanding what the goal of the partnership agreement is. Is it a technology transfer agreement where it really is looking to transfer the technology to build, or is it about manufacturing and you're outsourcing something?
Knowing what's important to you as a company is the first step. What makes my information special? Is that intellectual property, some unique manufacturing process, tool technique design, or is is my customer base and how I interact with them, how I promote, etc.? By knowing what makes you special and unique, you know what you need to protect—that's the goal that you need to protect.
Then you go in with your eyes wide open. What's of interest to me? Is this a mutually beneficial relationship? When you start to assess this, it tells you where you need to put your cyber defences, which ultimately gets to what I'm responsible for. Are you positioning your company for a takeover? In this case you could expect to see a company looking to get information on your financials. Where are you particularly vulnerable, who are your suppliers, who's your legal counsel, etc.? You could see that in terms of a takeover bid.
If you're looking at a unique piece of technology, then you need to protect that. How am I protecting it and making sure that it isn't travelling, isn't going places where it walks out the door? Really think that through. You're thinking through the threats and then leveraging the advice that's out there.