Tag: stealing
A third former Apple employee has been charged with stealing self-driving car tech
For many years, rumors have been flying around that Apple has been working on a self-driving car, or at least an electric vehicle with some autonomous functionality. Now, a third former employee has been accused of stealing some of that technology for a Chinese self-driving car company.
A federal court in the Northern District of California has unsealed charges against Weibao Wang, a former Apple software engineer. Wang started working at the company in 2016 as part of a team that developed hardware and software for autonomous systems — technology that could conceivably wind up in self-driving cars.
According to the indictment, in November 2017, Wang accepted a job with a US subsidiary of a Chinese company that was developing self-driving cars but waited more than four months to tell Apple that he was quitting. After Wang left Apple in April 2018, the company found that he “accessed large amounts of sensitive proprietary and confidential information” in the lead up to his departure, the Department of Justice said.
“Large quantities of data taken from Apple” were found during a law enforcement search of Wang’s Mountain View residence that June. Wang told agents that he wasn’t planning to travel, but he flew back to China that night, according to the indictment.
Wang has been charged with six counts of stealing or attempting to steal trade secrets. He faces a maximum prison sentence of 10 years and a fine of $250,000 for each count. However, that depends on officials being able to extradite Wang, who remains in China, as CNBC reports.
This marks the third instance of a former Apple employee being accused of stealing autonomous trade secrets for Chinese entities. Xiaolang Zhang, who worked at Apple at the same time as Wang, pleaded guilty last year to stealing technology from Apple’s car division. Zhang was apprehended at San Jose International Airport in 2018 while trying to board a flight to China.
In 2019, another former employee was arrested before they could flee to China. Jizhong Chen allegedly stole self-driving car tech for a Chinese company. Chen pleaded not guilty and the case is proceeding in federal court.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/doj-charges-a-third-former-apple-employee-with-stealing-self-driving-car-tech-180824584.html?src=rss
Another Former Apple Employee Charged With Stealing Car Secrets for China
Wang was on the Annotation Team during his time at Apple, working on algorithms to accelerate the process of annotating real-world objects. Because of his role, he was granted “broad access” to databases that included information for the project. The information that he had access to was limited to just a few thousand of Apple’s more than 135,000 full time employees.
Wang signed confidentiality and Intellectual Property Agreements before being granted access to Apple’s databases, plus he attended secrecy training that covered the consequences of stealing data. Nevertheless, in 2016, he downloaded Apple’s “entire autonomy source code,” and stole additional autonomous systems and hardware information shortly before resigning from his position at Apple in 2018.
When he resigned, Wang did not tell Apple where he planned to go, but it turned out he had accepted a position at the U.S. subsidiary of a Chinese company developing autonomous driving technology. Apple in May 2018 reviewed data access logs and found that Wang accessed sensitive details right before he left, which is when the company involved the Department of Justice.
In June, the DoJ searched Wang’s residence, at which point he purchased a one-way plane ticket from San Francisco, California to Guangzhou, China. After he made it to China, the extent of the theft was uncovered. There is a warrant for Wang’s arrest, and if extradited and convicted, he will face up to 60 years in prison.
Wang is one of three Apple employees accused of attempting to steal Apple Car information for China. Last year, former Apple employee Xiaolang Zhang pled guilty to theft of trade secrets as part of a plea bargain. Zhang also attempted to flee the country, but he was caught. A third accused employee, Jizhong Chen, has pled not guilty.
This article, “Another Former Apple Employee Charged With Stealing Car Secrets for China” first appeared on MacRumors.com
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Discord leak suspect charged with stealing and sharing military secrets
After his arrest yesterday, the U.S. Air National Guard airman suspected of sharing a trove of national security secrets with his Discord chat group now faces charges under the Espionage Act. Jack Teixeira, 21, was charged Friday with the unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information and unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents. […]
Discord leak suspect charged with stealing and sharing military secrets by Taylor Hatmaker originally published on TechCrunch
Discord leak suspect charged with stealing and sharing military secrets
After his arrest yesterday, the U.S. Air National Guard airman suspected of sharing a trove of national security secrets with his Discord chat group now faces charges under the Espionage Act. Jack Teixeira, 21, was charged Friday with the unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information and unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents. […]
Discord leak suspect charged with stealing and sharing military secrets by Taylor Hatmaker originally published on TechCrunch