Former Samsung employees arrested for leaking product information

South Korean authorities arrested two former Samsung employees last Friday (15). They went He is accused of selling secrets about DRAM memory production to Chinese company ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT). The leak would cause a billion-dollar loss for the Galaxy handset maker.

According to this Korea Economic Daily Global EditionFormer employees of the South Korean giant He conveyed information about the 16nm DRAM memory chip technology developed by Samsung to CXMT.. The “collaboration” would generate several million dollars in annual salaries for both men.

One of the defendants, identified only by his last name, worked as a full-time manager at Samsung until 2016. After his retirement, he was hired by the China-based brand for allegedly sharing details about semiconductor deposition technology.

There is no further information about the other man arrested, identified by the surname Bang and described as a “former Samsung subcontractor.” They both returned to Korea in October and were investigated for violating the country’s Industrial Technology Leakage Prevention and Protection Act; authorities obtained enough evidence to detain the two.

Other possible leaks will be investigated

Data from South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) shows that: At least seven more Samsung semiconductor manufacturing processes may have been leaked to Chinese manufacturer. Therefore, the investigation needs to be expanded soon and the involvement of more people than the two currently detained must be investigated.

DRAM is responsible for controlling approximately 40% of the memory market. Samsung’s loss amounted to US$ 1.8 billion (R$ 8.8 billion at current prices).According to prosecutors. The leak would also greatly reduce the technological distance between itself and its rival.

A. ReutersCXMT limited itself to saying that it “respects intellectual property rights and has a robust mechanism to prevent the entry of third-party information.” The Chinese company declined to comment on this specific case involving detained former Samsung employees.