A China-based former employee of ASML Holding NV — a critical cog in the global semiconductor industry — allegedly stole data from a software system that the corporation uses to store technical information about its machinery, people with knowledge of the situation said on Wednesday.
The breach occurred in a repository that includes details of the lithography systems critical to producing some of the world’s most advanced chips, the people said.
It was the first glimpse at the nature of the theft disclosed earlier on Wednesday by ASML, which said a former worker in China had stolen confidential information, but did not elaborate on what kind of data were taken.
File Photo: Reuters
The data came from a so-called product life cycle management program known as Teamcenter, the people said.
The tool is used internally at the company, they said.
Teamcenter serves as a shared storehouse of technical information that allows groups of employees to collaborate and manage their product development, according to the Web site of Siemens AG, which supplies the software.
It allows for “common access to a single repository of all product-related knowledge, data and processes,” the Web site says.
ASML declined to comment beyond the statement it issued on Wednesday, in which it said it did not believe the theft was material to its business.
Siemens did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The breach involved technological information, but not hardware, and was carried out by a male employee in the past couple of months, said another person familiar with the details.
Authorities in the US have been notified, the person said.
The US is “deeply concerned” about allegations of economic espionage, US Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration Thea Kendler said in Tokyo yesterday, declining to comment on the specifics of the incident.
This is the second such breach that ASML has linked to China in less than a year and comes as the US is pressuring other nations, including the Netherlands, to help keep China’s chipmaking abilities from advancing.
Tensions are already high after an alleged Chinese spy balloon hovered over US airspace before being shot down.
Earlier on Wednesday, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) said he was not aware of ASML’s accusation that a former Chinese employee had misappropriated data.
Last month, the Netherlands and Japan agreed to join the US in restricting exports of some advanced chipmaking machinery to China. US President Joe Biden’s administration has said it is essential for the US and its allies to block Beijing from acquiring technologies that could threaten global security.
Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Liesje Schreinemacher said in a statement that it is “very worrying that such a large and reputable company is affected by economic espionage.”
It is unclear whether the former employee who stole the data had any connections to authorities in China or elsewhere.
ASML is restricted from selling its most advanced machines to China.
China is ASML’s third-biggest market after Taiwan and South Korea. ASML and its peers sell their equipment to chipmakers such as Intel Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電).
ASML has previously accused Dongfang Jingyuan Electron Ltd (東方晶源) of obtaining ASML’s technology and transferring it to China. That technology was secured in a sometimes audacious fashion: One engineer was accused of stealing all 2 million lines of source code for critical ASML software and then sharing part of it with employees at Dongfang and a related company in the US, according to transcripts of the proceedings.
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