Japanese Company Staff Implicated In Alleged Theft of Key TSMC Technology (cnn.com) 16
hackingbear shares a report from CNN: Taiwanese authorities have detained three current and former employees of the world's largest chip manufacturer, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), for allegedly stealing trade secrets [and taking them to Japanese company Tokyo Electrons], prosecutors said Tuesday. Law enforcement officers questioned several suspects and witnesses late last month. They searched their homes and detained three of them over "serious suspicions of violating national security laws," the intellectual property branch of the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office said on Tuesday. After an internal investigation, the major Taiwanese exporter raised suspicions with authorities that its "core technologies" may have been illegally accessed by former and current staffers.
Nikkei Asia first reported on Tuesday that TSMC had fired staffers suspected of illegally obtaining business secrets related to the manufacturing technology for the company's 2-nanometer chip, the most advanced processor in the semiconductor industry that is expected to go into mass production this year. Taiwanese local media reported that a former TSMC employee now works at top chip manufacturing equipment supplier Tokyo Electron Ltd., and that the Japanese firm's Taiwan office was raided by investigators. On Thursday, Tokyo Electron confirmed it had dismissed an employee of its Taiwan subsidiary who was involved in the case, and said the company was cooperating with authorities. "As of now, based upon the findings of our internal investigation we have not confirmed any evidence of the respective confidential information shared to any third parties," it said in a statement.
Nikkei Asia first reported on Tuesday that TSMC had fired staffers suspected of illegally obtaining business secrets related to the manufacturing technology for the company's 2-nanometer chip, the most advanced processor in the semiconductor industry that is expected to go into mass production this year. Taiwanese local media reported that a former TSMC employee now works at top chip manufacturing equipment supplier Tokyo Electron Ltd., and that the Japanese firm's Taiwan office was raided by investigators. On Thursday, Tokyo Electron confirmed it had dismissed an employee of its Taiwan subsidiary who was involved in the case, and said the company was cooperating with authorities. "As of now, based upon the findings of our internal investigation we have not confirmed any evidence of the respective confidential information shared to any third parties," it said in a statement.
2nm ... respect!! (Score:2)
What if people cooperated? (Score:2)
Do we create conflict based on hallucinated things like nationality just to create drama so we can feel outraged?
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Re: What if people cooperated? (Score:2)
What if I share things with a person who happens to be born Japanese that neither of us share with our cultures? What if we're vegetarian, for example?
Funny how these people always steal data (Score:5, Interesting)
The legal way to do it is just selling their knowledge, by changing employers. But I guess these are people that have access to the data, but do not really understand it. That very much limits the value of that data though, because it is not simply following a recipe. There is much more involved.
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I mean, maybe "helpfu" is a thing, too.
Re: Funny how these people always steal data (Score:3)
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For that, you do not need to steal data either.
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ASML makes a light source, and I think a stepper.
Lots of other equipment come from elsewhere - Nikon makes a lot of the "other pieces", for example, as does Canon and many other Japanese companies.
And even so, you still need chemicals - the photoresist was developed by Japanese
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