Summary
- Intel has sued former engineer Jinfeng Luo for the theft of 18,000 secret documents and seeks compensation of US$250,000.
- Luo allegedly bypassed Intel security by using a NAS to copy top-secret files after being notified of his dismissal.
- The company has launched an internal investigation and has been trying to contact Luo for more than three months without success.
Intel has filed a lawsuit against former software engineer Jinfeng Luo. The company accuses Luo of misappropriating around 18,000 files, including information classified as “top secret”, days before he was fired.
The semiconductor giant is seeking compensation of at least US$250,000 (around R$1.3 million) and claims that the former employee has not responded to contact attempts for more than three months.
Luo had worked at Intel since 2014 and was officially notified of his dismissal on July 7, 2024, with his employment relationship scheduled to end on July 31. The process, however, does not specify the reason for the dismissal.
What does the lawsuit allege?
The lawsuit filed by Intel details two alleged attempts by Luo to extract data from the company after being notified of his dismissal. The first would have occurred eight days before the end of his contract (approximately July 23).
Luo allegedly connected an external hard drive to his corporate laptop. When attempting to download a file, Intel’s internal protection mechanisms and controls would have blocked the transfer.
Five days later, three days before his last day at the company, Luo reportedly tried again. This time, he would have used a different technology: a network-attached storage (NAS) device, which resembles a small server.
The suit alleges that over the next three days, Luo was able to download nearly 18,000 files. Intel claims that among this data were confidential company files. The exact nature of the information has not been publicly detailed.
Internal investigation
Intel claims in the lawsuit that it detected Luo’s data transfers and immediately launched an internal investigation. After the discovery, the company claims to have tried to contact Luo for almost three months or more, using multiple channels. The attempts included numerous phone calls, emails and letters sent by post.
According to the lawsuit, Luo “even refused to engage with Intel” and return the supposedly appropriate files. Faced with the lack of response, Intel turned to the judicial system. The company accuses him of violating federal and state trade secret laws.
In addition to monetary damages, Intel is seeking a court order requiring Luo to turn over his personal electronic devices for forensic inspection. The company also demands the return of all confidential information that would have been copied.
This is not the first time that a case like this has happened to Intel. In August this year, another former engineer was sentenced to two years’ probation and paid a fine of US$34,000 (R$180,000).
He was sued after illegally copying information from the CPU maker — data he later used to get a job at Microsoft.
It is worth remembering that Intel is going through a period of restructuring, with several layoffs taking place. In less than two years, Intel made 35,000 job cuts amid the financial crisis that has already become public.
With information from The Mercury News
Source: https://tecnoblog.net/noticias/ex-funcionario-roubou-18-mil-documentos-secretos-da-intel-e-desapareceu/
