1: Insider Steals Advanced Microchip Technology

The semiconductor market is quite competitive and any advancement in technology could set you ahead of peers. This incentive drove employees from United Microelectronics Corporation, Inc. (UMC), a Taiwanese foundry company, to steal trade secrets from the American company Micron Technology, Inc. (Micron). In 2018, the FBI linked the representatives at UMC to the PRC’s state-owned semiconductor firm Fujian Jinhua. The technology in question is the Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) used for advanced chip production that was developed by Micron. This DRAM technology was previously something both UMC and Fujian Jinhua did not possess.

Prior to the acquisition of trade secrets from Micron, Chen Zhengkun, a.k.a. Stephen Chen, a senior VP of UMC, negotiated an agreement with Fujian Jinhua to develop DRAM technology for Fujian Jinhua. Chen hired developers He Jianting, a.k.a. J.T. Ho, and Wang Yungming, a.k.a. Kenny Wang to aid in the development of this DRAM technology. Ho and Wang brought with them confidential information from Micron’s Taiwan-based subsidiary. This was flagged by UMC’s IT department because of the IP found on Ho’s computer. Afterwards, Chen issued the researchers ‘off network’ laptops to continue doing research with the American IP from Micron. This resulted in specific changes to the design of UMC’s DRAM chips, as was recorded in a file on Wang’s laptop.

The resulting investigation by Taiwanese officials found only one of the off-network laptops in question. The other, as well as hard drives, papers, notes, and a phone, were disposed of by an unnamed UMC coworker of Wang and Ho’s. In the early stages of the investigation, Chen Zhengkun fled to mainland China where he is now the president of Fujian Jinhua and in charge of its memory production facility.