In recent days, a data theft case involving a former Intel employee has drawn widespread attention across the industry:

A former software engineer, who was notified of his layoff and was about to leave the company, reportedly downloaded a massive amount of internal Intel documents—approximately 18,000 files in total. These included confidential materials, R&D documents, and files marked as “Top Secret,” which are considered core intellectual property.Intel has since filed a lawsuit against the employee, demanding at least $250,000 in compensation and the return of all stolen materials. However, the employee has not been heard from since, and Intel has yet to receive any response.

Employee Downloaded 18,000 ‘Top Secret’ Files Before Going Missing

The individual at the center of this incident is Jinfeng Luo, who joined Intel in 2014 and had been working as a software engineer.According to the lawsuit, on July 7 of last year, Jinfeng Luo was informed of his termination and was asked to leave the company by the end of the month. However, just before his departure, he proceeded to download a large volume of internal documents—about 18,000 files in total. These included confidential materials, R&D documents, and files labeled as “Top Secret.”Within the semiconductor and tech industries, “Top Secret” typically refers to the most critical and competitively sensitive information—data that could significantly influence a company’s future products, manufacturing processes, and market strategies. In the lawsuit, Intel stated that the downloaded materials were not only vast in quantity but also contained corporate assets, core technical data, and confidential business information.Intel also noted in the legal filing that Jinfeng Luo initially attempted to copy the data from his company laptop to an external storage device but was blocked by Intel’s security systems. However, three days before his official departure, he managed to transfer the data to a NAS (Network Attached Storage) system and proceeded to download as much material as possible during the remaining work hours.After detecting the anomaly, Intel launched an immediate investigation. Over the following three months, the company made multiple attempts to contact Jinfeng Luo via phone calls, emails, and certified letters—but received no response. Left with no other option, Intel filed the lawsuit to recover the stolen materials and seek $250,000 in damages.

Another Intel Ex-Employee Stole Secrets, Then Jumped to Microsoft — Sentenced to Probation

It’s worth noting that a similar incident involving another former Intel engineer, Varun Gupta, occurred just three months ago, resulting in a court sentence of two years probation and a $34,000 fine.Like Jinfeng Luo, Varun Gupta had worked at Intel for about a decade, serving as a product marketing engineer. He left the company in January 2020 and immediately joined Microsoft. Prior to his departure, he copied a large number of confidential business files—some of which allegedly played a key role in Microsoft’s processor procurement negotiations with Intel.Court documents revealed that among the files copied by Gupta was a PowerPoint presentation detailing Intel’s pricing strategies for other major clients. These materials not only helped Gupta secure his new position but also gave Microsoft a significant advantage in business talks.During the trial, U.S. prosecutor William Narus sought an eight-month federal prison sentence for Gupta, arguing that his repeated access and misuse of confidential files demonstrated intent and a pattern of abuse. However, the defense attorney, David Angeli, argued for leniency, citing that Gupta had already lost his high-level industry position permanently and had paid $40,000 in civil settlements.Ultimately, the judge ruled in favor of a balanced outcome: Gupta was sentenced to two years of probation and fined $34,472—a figure nearly equivalent to what he would have avoided in prison time. It is reported that Gupta has since returned to France, rejoined his family, and is planning to start a new career in the wine industry.

“Theft Can Never Be Justified”

Clearly, this incident is not an isolated one—and Intel is currently facing one of the most challenging structural periods in the past two decades.In recent years, due to declining profits, a weak PC market, and intensifying competition in the AI chip sector, Intel has initiated large-scale layoffs. Over the past two years alone, the company has laid off approximately 35,000 employees globally. Against the backdrop of mass layoffs, some employees may be experiencing job anxiety or financial pressure—factors that can inadvertently increase the risk of data breaches.