Intel sues ex-engineer for stealing 18,000 ‘top secret’ files worth $250,000

Intel

Intel has filed a lawsuit against a former software engineer accused of stealing tens of thousands of confidential files — including data marked “Intel Top Secret” — shortly before leaving the company. The chipmaker is seeking $250,000 in damages and the return of all stolen information.

According to The Mercury News, the engineer, identified as Jinfeng Luo, worked at Intel from 2014 until his termination in July 2024. The company alleges that Luo downloaded around 18,000 files from his work laptop to a network-attached storage device (NAS) just days before his final departure. These files reportedly contained highly sensitive technical data and company assets.

Intel’s security systems initially blocked Luo’s first attempt to copy files to an external drive, but he managed to bypass the restrictions three days later, transferring massive amounts of data in the process. The company discovered the breach soon after and tried to contact him multiple times over the following months through phone calls, emails, and postal letters — all without success.

The lawsuit comes amid Intel’s massive cost-cutting drive, which has seen roughly 35,000 job cuts over the past two years as the company battles declining profits and intensifying competition. Luo’s termination was part of these layoffs.

This isn’t the first such incident at the chipmaker. In an earlier case, another ex-Intel engineer was fined $34,000 and placed on probation for taking confidential materials that were later used during his employment at Microsoft.

Luo’s whereabouts remain unknown, and he has yet to respond to the allegations. Intel says the lawsuit is necessary to recover its intellectual property and protect sensitive data tied to its ongoing semiconductor projects.