A SK Hynix employee printed 4,000 pages of confidential information and carried them out the door before leaving for their new position at Huawei

A modern data theft story usually begins and ends with some shady infiltration of a system, firewall dodging and someone typing furiously at a keyboard, before announcing proudly to no one in particular, "I am in!"

A former SK Hynix worker was found guilty of printing 4,000 pages of sensitive technical documents at one of the company’s Shanghai subsidiaries and carrying them out of the door.

The defendant is said to have been employed by the South Korean semiconductor company since 2013, starting her career as a chip defect analyst before moving up the ranks and becoming a team lead in business-tobusiness customer relations. (via Tom's Hardware).

She was found to print out reams of confidential information before smuggling them out of the building. She carried her illicit gains in her rucksack as well as a collection shopping bags.

The defendant claimed that the documents were printed to study and to smooth over the transition to her new role at Huawei, a company that has long been under international scrutiny due to its alleged ties with the Chinese government and its long-standing concerns about cybersecurity.

The documents were described as "solutions for semiconductor manufacturing process issues", while the methodology used was a way to circumvent a SK Hynix facility ban on USB drives, external storage devices and other similar devices.

SK Hynix also monitors printed material, though the Shanghai facility has been noted by the court as having less stringent security than other offices.

The ex-employee received 18 months in jail and a fine of $14,300. The prosecutors did not prove that Huawei had received the stolen data, and SK Hynix failed to report any specific financial damage. This resulted in a lighter sentence.

One can only assume that the Mission: Impossible soundtrack was playing in the backround as the employee walked nonchalantly past the front desk carrying bags full of confidential information. It's not clear if the cost of the printer was included in the fine. But I would expect to be slapped on the wrist if I clogged up the office printer by 4,000 pages, let alone sensitive company data.