Chinese employees stole corporate secrets of ASML in 2015, Dutch newspaper claims
Dutch chip machinery maker ASML has admitted that it fell victim to industrial espionage in 2015, but claimed that the intellectual property thieves had not stolen blueprints for its semiconductor manufacturing machinery.
It added that the alleged intellectual property theft was not part of any "national conspiracy".
On Thursday, Dutch financial newspaper Financieele Dagblad reported that a number of Chinese employees at the company in Silicon Valley had been involved in the theft of corporate secrets, including software, source code, secret user manuals and print strategies from ASML in 2015. The newspaper claimed that those workers were part of ASML's research and development department, and had leaked secrets to a company, which in turn had direct links with a Chinese government ministry. It said the theft resulted in millions of euros in losses for ASML.
