Laid-off Intel employee allegedly steals ‘Top Secret’ files, then disappears — ex-engineer downloaded 18,000 files before vanishing

Laid-off Intel employee allegedly steals 'Top Secret' files, then disappears — ex-engineer downloaded 18,000 files before vanishing

Jowi Morales Social Links Navigation Contributing Writer Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.

3ogdy That's what you get for hiring Chinese nationals. Guess what's gonna happen: he takes those docs to China where they have their own laws and no respect for the international community and all of a sudden, China has a true x86 competitor for Intel's best. AMD already sold designs to China. Then, China withholds rare earth exports and they have the tools, the tech and the materials to build everythingwhile we sit and watch. Reply

bit_user 3ogdy said: AMD already sold designs to China. No, they did not. I guess you're referring to this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD%E2%80%93Chinese_joint_venture That essentially licensed the 1st gen EPYC, but it was provided to them in essentially compiled form. Saying the design was sold would be equivalent to saying MS Windows source code had been provided to you, when all you did was a regular install of Windows on your PC. I'm not sure why it's so hard to understand the that the same difference between source code vs. compiled binary can also apply to chips! It's not like companies who send their chip design for manufacturing by TSMC just give them the source code! Reply

COLGeek 3ogdy said: That's what you get for hiring Chinese nationals. Guess what's gonna happen: he takes those docs to China where they have their own laws and no respect for the international community and all of a sudden, China has a true x86 competitor for Intel's best. AMD already sold designs to China. Then, China withholds rare earth exports and they have the tools, the tech and the materials to build everythingwhile we sit and watch. Before speculating on the facts of the case, I would draw your attention to what has been stated. Only seeking $250k for stuff so sensitive? That is chump change in the business. I seriously doubt the significance of the trove of stuff downloaded. Reply

bit_user COLGeek said: Only seeking $250k for stuff so sensitive? That is chump change in the business. It's a good point, but we also don't know exactly what went into that number. I could imagine Intel merely had to file a lawsuit above some threshold, in order to trigger certain legal mechanisms. It could be that they simply haven't gone to the trouble of trying to assess the true financial impact of the theft and would revise the number, before the case actually went to trial. Reply

phead128 Nothing of value is lost if Intel is seeking merely $250K in compensation. Reply

nrdwka 3ogdy said: That's what you get for hiring Chinese nationals. Guess what's gonna happen: he takes those docs to China where they have their own laws and no respect for the international community and all of a sudden, China has a true x86 competitor for Intel's best. AMD already sold designs to China. Then, China withholds rare earth exports and they have the tools, the tech and the materials to build everythingwhile we sit and watch. Or, perhaps because laying off peoples to please stack holders can fire back. BTW previous example had nothing to do with transfer of data to China, but to very fellow US company. So stop mixing up political agenda. Reply

bit_user nrdwka said: Or, perhaps because laying off peoples to please stack holders can fire back. The USA has employment "at will", meaning both employees and employers are free to terminate the arrangement. All employees should be well aware of this, and plan their affairs accordingly. Employees also sign NDAs, which make it abundantly clear that even IP that's not explicitly marked isn't to be shared. Finally, someone interested in stealing company data for personal gain won't necessarily do this only when facing layoffs – there have been plenty of examples where employees departed, company data in hand, entirely of their own accord. There's basically no legitimate argument for stealing company data. If the company wrongfully terminated an employee, there are legal methods to pursue the matter and receive compensation. Theft is never justifiable. Reply

Evildead_666 Or perhaps asking for a LOT more money would give the thief idea's about how much the data is worth ? or to the Buyer ? "Ah, nah, it was worth nearly nothing…." in comparison to "It was worth Billions to us…" 😉 Reply

phead128 Intel is the type of company where you can staff it with TSMC engineering IP knowledge and they still mess everything up in bureaucracy and incompetence. Reply

bill001g He better be not in the country. Intel lawyers know all the tricks. They can go back to the judge and ask him to issue a bench warrant for not appearing. The next time he tries to fly or gets stopped for a minor traffic ticket he will be put in jail until he sees the judge. Reply

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