AMD employee charged with stealing Intel secrets A man who once worked for Intel and then jumped ship to join AMD has been accused of stealing his erstwhile employer's chip secrets. Last week, the FBI alleged that Biswahoman Pani of Worcester, Massachusetts copied a stack of sensitive Intel documents which detailed future chip designs, the Boston Globe reports. The FBI laid …
1. Is there any evidence that AMD has those documents?
2. Is there any evidence that they were passed to anyone?
3. What business is it of the FBI to provide information secirity to IBM
4. If he had access to these documents was he not permitted to access them?
5. If he was not permitted, then why did he have access?
And finally
6. He did not "take" the documents, he apparently "copied them" A probable requirement for looking at them.
If I was AMD, I'd fire him right away. If he'll steal Intel secrets, who says he won't steal AMD's? How much information did AMD get/use? We'll probably never know.
I also fault Intel IT security for not securing the laptop on his last day and turning off all remote access to the corporate network.
I feel a lot of contractors will get grilled and lashed with a whip for the actions of what sounds like a full time employee
Did you read the article? The person in question took the documents when he was employed with Intel and AMD. He did not tell Intel (not IBM) that he had taken a job at another location. No doubt the Intel documents were restricted in nature, however as a current employee he would have had access to them. No doubt his contract is quite explicit about what he can and can not take and the security requirements of such documents. Had he formally quit from Intel, they would have removed access and taken his Intel supplied laptop away from him. However, he kept this hidden from Intel.
First, I have to ask Vendicar, did you actually READ this article??? If so, where does "IBM" come into play? Per your points:
1) No one is accusing AMD of ANYTHING.
2) When you steel something, the cops don't have to wait until you sell it to someone else before it becomes a crime.
3) Let's see: Intel is California company. Most of their servers are in Arizona. This guy worked in Massachusetts. The ONLY US crime fighting organization that actually DOES have jurisdiction in crimes across state lines IS the FBI.
4) If you ever read the rules and regulations regarding classified documents, you would know that there are little clauses in there that basically say you ONLY have the right to access those documents for COMPANY business. I'm fairly sure that making a copy so you can "impress" your new employer is NOT considered company business. So, no, he WASN'T permitted to access them for that function. Oh, and he also signed a legal document at his exit interview that said he had returned or destroyed ALL copies of classified information.
5) Pretty much answered in item 4.
6) Yeah. Try using that as an argument in any court case and see how long you keep your butt out of jail. All those folks "trading" mp3 didn't steel them, they simply "copied" them...
So the question I have for you is this: Why are you so quick to stick up for this guy? Hell, you act like it is the crime of the century for Intel to actually call the cops on someone that accessed information they didn't need for their job right before quitting to go to work for the competition. Or is this just the standard Intel = Big Company = Bad type of reaction???
You should have been a bit impressed that a company as large as Intel was actually able to do a bit of investigation... Let's see, employee with access to confidential material has quit to go to work for the competition. Maybe we should see what files he has accessed and when to make sure everything is on the up and up... Oh! Look here! He had no reason to access all these highly confidential files, especially only a couple of weeks before his last day...
Geoff,
I haven't see ANYONE, ANYWHERE accuse AMD of anything. In fact, most stores on this case go to great lengths (or, lengths at least) to mention that there is NO evidence that AMD knew anything about this. They had hired the guy, but that is all.
Believe it or not, but most companies (at least in the US) TEND to work together when it comes to trade secrets. Remember Coke - Pepsi? There has been at least one case where one of the companies was approached by someone with the secret recipe of there competitor.
Did they buy it? No. Instead, they notified the authorities and helped setup a sting operation to bust the guy (who turned out to be an executive of the other company that DID have access to the recipe).
Believe it or not, but AMD and Intel have worked together similarly in the past. No one wants to hire someone that is willing to rip off their former employer. Especially given the consequences if they are caught.
They raided his home less than one month after he quit Intel??? What evidence could appear in less than a month that would give Intel reasonable cause to believe he stole anything? It is quite normal for dedicated engineers to take work home with them and 100 pages of documents (in many companies everything including the work's canteen menu is marked confidential these days) is very little.
I'm sure that all current Intel engineers have now heard the lesson loud and clear: if you quit Intel DO NOT go to AMD!
The article seems to have failed to mention minor little tidbits like that his wife was still working for Intel, that he'd asked for and received a transfer from one Intel 'site to another to be nearer his wife, that he'd taken vacation time off for the last days of his Intel employment and had told Intel he'd be taking a job elsewhere instead of with AMD.
It's all regardless. He stole data to try to impress his new employer.
That is Theft.
He performed this theft across state lines, making it a federal matter.
The FBI did their job.
AMD should definitely fire this moron and INTEL should publicly applaud the investigation by the FBI, and the termination of this employee. Lastly, the idiot should do some jail time.
The difference between Intellectual Property (IP) theft and *real* property theft should be punished the same way. If this guy stole cars from the INTEL parking lot, and drove them across state lines to sell them for profit, it's the same crime. Just because he HAD ACCESS to the the documents and then KEPT the the documents after his termination, is THEFT.
I recently left the employ of one company for another, and had to sign a legal document clearly stating my responsibilities to return all documents, information and any Intellectual Property of the company I was leaving. It also clearly stated that any use of the IP of my former company would be considered theft, and punishable to the fullest extent of the law.
I have no doubt that INTEL has a stronger legal statement than the one I signed...
Get over it, this guy should be in federal "pound-you-in-the-bum" prison.
Caesar says? THROW HIM TO THE LIONS!
I'm not sure I could advocate any prison system that has pounding you in the bottom as part of it's corrective regime - it's either cruel and unusual punishment, or unjust rewards, depending on your point of view. May be for some crimes, but I think it's slightly over the top for industrial espionage. Not to say that it's not fine for you AC if that's your bag, no offence meant. You do sound a touch excited there in the last couple of paragraphs.
Couldn't the US prison system move to something slightly more appropriate, for example rock breaking or something?
Does George Bush know that his federal penitentiaries are actual penitrationaries? I didn't think he was pro gay, let alone enforcing it on silly chip engineers.
Icon? - well that expression is what I imagine this poor guy will have, but more grimace, less smile.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
