A 36-year-old Chinese national and former SK hynix employee was allegedly caught stealing trade secrets for Huawei and found guilty of violating South Korea’s Industrial Technology Protection Act. As a result of these offenses, the ex-employee will not just serve 18 months in prison but will also have to pay a fine for her crimes.
In addition to prison time, the ex-SK hynix employee will pay a fine of approximately $15,000
The Yeoju branch of the Suwon District Court provided the following details as evidence that led to the sentencing of the ex-SK hynix employee. As reported by Koreabizwire, there were around 4,000 printed pages that contained sensitive information that would have benefitted Huawei if the latter got its hands on it, giving it an edge in the intense semiconductor race.
“The defendant’s actions of printing approximately 4,000 pages of technical documents over four days at SK Hynix’s Shanghai office, which had relatively lax security measures, just before her resignation, were highly unusual. There are reasonable grounds to suspect that she removed these documents in batches of about 300 pages daily, concealing them in her backpack and shopping bags.”
The employee, whose identity has been concealed, reportedly attempted to weasel out of a difficult situation, claiming that the documents she obtained were for study purposes. Thankfully, the court saw through the deceit and rejected these claims. The authorities also suggested that the defendant’s subsequent employment at Huawei indicated that she would provide this sensitive information in her new position.
If it were any other situation, the former employee might have served a harsher sentence, but the sentence took into account that there was no clear evidence that the allegedly stolen papers were actually used by Huawei and that SK hynix did not seek any damages or retribution. The memory maker enforces strict rules around its workplace, prohibiting the use of flash drives or any other portable storage mediums that can be used to steal trade secrets for competitors.
This would explain why the employee had no other option but to print out hundreds of documents. Given that it would take a while for those 4,000 pages to be printed, it is surprising that the particular area where the crime took place had little to no surveillance. It is unclear what compelled the individual to shift allegiances to Huawei, but the latter has attempted to hire TSMC engineers by offering them triple their current salaries, so it is possible that the person mentioned right now may have been promised a lucrative reward for her efforts.
News Source: Koreabizwire
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech's mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
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