An SK Hynix employee printed out 4,000 pages of confidential info and carried it out the door in shopping bags before leaving for their new job at Huawei

Usually, a modern data theft story begins and ends with some shady system infiltration, firewall dodging, and presumably someone typing furiously on a keyboard before proudly announcing to no-one in particular, “I’m in!”

It seems like traditional methods are still alive and well though, as a former SK Hynix employee has been found guilty of printing off 4,000 pages worth of sensitive technical documents from one of the company’s subsidiaries in Shanghai, and simply carrying them out the door.

The defendant in question is said to have worked at the South Korean semiconductor supplier since 2013, beginning her career in chip defect analysis before rising up the ranks to become a team leader in business-to-business customer relations (via Tom’s Hardware).

However, right before resigning she was found to have printed off reams off confidential information, before smuggling the illicit papers out of the building in shifts—carrying her ill-gotten gains in both her rucksack and a collection of shopping bags.

The defendant argued that the documents were printed for study purposes, and to help smooth over the transition before leaving her role for her new position at Huawei—a company that’s long been under international scrutiny for its alleged ties to the Chinese government and long-standing cybersecurity concerns.

The documents were said to contain “solutions to semiconductor manufacturing process issues”, and the methodology used was an attempt to circumvent a ban on USB drives and external storage devices at SK Hynix facilities.

SK Hynix is also said to closely monitor printed material, although the Shanghai facility was noted by the court for having less rigorous security than the company’s other offices.

The ex-employee was sentenced to 18 months in prison and fined the equivalent of $14,300. While she was found guilty of breaching the South Korea’s Industrial Technology Protection Act, the prosecutors failed to prove that Huawei received the stolen information, and SK Hynix did not report specific financial damage from the incident, resulting in a somewhat lighter sentence.

One can only presume that the Mission: Impossible theme was playing in the background, as said employee nonchalantly walked past the front desk with bags loaded full of confidential data. It’s unclear if printer costs were factored in to the eventual fine, but I reckon I’d get a significant slap on the wrist for tying up the office printer with 4,000 pages worth of anything, never mind sensitive company information.