Nothing paranoid about this. Data exfiltration and corporate sabatoge is very real. There are entire departments at large companies dedicated to protecting against things like this.

So many industries that were threatened or upended went though similar exercises. Tobacco being one of the best examples. We also went through a huge mid-century renaissance in public transit that was abruptly put to an end due largely to gas and car companies. Trains got replaced by buses because tire and oil companies felt threatened. Remember the EV1?