A former employee of South Korean semiconductor supplier SK Hynix was sentenced to 18 months in prison for stealing confidential documents containing sensitive information about the company’s manufacturing process. The employee, who worked at SK Hynix since 2013 and later joined Huawei, printed reams of documents on USB drives to bypass a ban on external storage devices.
The documents, which contained solutions to semiconductor manufacturing issues, were allegedly stolen for study purposes and to aid in her transition to a new role at Huawei. The court found the employee guilty of breaching South Korea’s Industrial Technology Protection Act, but prosecutors failed to prove that Huawei received the stolen information or suffered significant financial damage.
SK Hynix had less stringent security measures in place at its Shanghai facility compared to other offices, which contributed to the incident. Despite this, the company closely monitors printed material. The employee was fined approximately $14,300 and faces 18 months of imprisonment.
Source: https://www.fudzilla.com/news/60060-data-thief-went-old-school