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Taiwan’s prosecutors office adds there is a ‘strong suspicion’ three suspects — two current employees and a former employee — had violated the National Security Act
MANILA, Philippines – Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) said on Tuesday, August 5, it had discovered potential trade secret leaks.
In an email to Reuters, the world’s biggest semiconductor maker said its “comprehensive and robust monitoring mechanisms” allowed it to identify the potential issue early, leading to faster actions taken.
Nikkei Asia, citing multiple sources with familiarity on the matter, said several former TSMC employees were suspected of trying to obtain critical proprietary information on 2-nanometer chip development and production while working with the company.
CNBC, in its report, said TSMC took “strict” disciplinary action against the workers involved, and has also launched legal proceedings.
“TSMC maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward any actions that compromise the protection of trade secrets or harm the company’s interests,” the company said.
TSMC added, “Such violations are dealt with strictly and pursued to the fullest extent of the law. We remain committed to safeguarding our core competitiveness and the shared interests of all our employees.”
TSMC added it could offer no further details as the case was pending judicial review.
According to Nikkei Asia’s report, however, the prosecutors office said on Tuesday that the case “originated when TSMC proactively detected unusual access patterns in the files of a current employee.”
It said there was “strong suspicion” three suspects — two current employees and a former employee — had violated the National Security Act. It said a request to the Intellectual Property and Commercial Court for their detention was granted.
“Following an internal investigation, TSMC discovered that its national core technology trade secrets had been allegedly illicitly obtained by a former employee in collusion with current employees.” the office added.
“This Office will thoroughly investigate the motives and objectives behind the suspects’ illegal acquisition of TSMC’s national core technology trade secrets, and will ascertain whether the secrets have been further leaked,” it went on to say.
TSMC said in 2022 it had over 200,000 trade secrets stored in a “Trade Secret Registration System.” Meanwhile 2-nanometer chips are seen as the currently most advanced technology in the semiconductor industry. – Rappler.com
