The conversation here is focussing on industrial espionage, but that's only one use case for this kind of active measure. An association with an opposition political party could easily get one on a surveillance list.

Yep, imagine an international postgrad student from an NSO client-state who criticizes their home country's leadership online, or is perceived to be a political activist is likely to be targeted by their own government for additional on-device monitoring via spyware. This could provide a springboard into monitoring other groups the victim may be a member of.

We've had this problem quite a bit in Australia.

Chinese students attending protests have had their families back home warned.

Personally know friends this has happened to.

Colleges are basically outsourced green field R&D setup through professors as well as Patent departments to monetize their internal/grant research spend.. Sampling in a large company what you would happen upon is mundane additions to complex solutions you would be unlikely to want to copy if you weren't along for the earlier parts of the ride.

They are gullible and they need the money.

Student debts are a harsh reality a lot of people cannot escape from.