The inside of Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor factory in Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do. Provided by Samsung Electronics
A current employee of Samsung Electronics was caught trying to leak internal secrets such as core semiconductor technology to the outside. The technology is known as a semiconductor consignment manufacturing (foundry)-related technology that Samsung Electronics has invested tens of trillions of won over the past few years to foster as next-generation food.
According to the semiconductor industry on the 23rd, Samsung Electronics is conducting an investigation into an employee of the foundry division in the semiconductor parts (DS) division for information leakage.
The employee is charged with accessing company security data while working from home. It is reported that Samsung Electronics’ remote work system (RBS) was unable to capture, so it was reported that hundreds of files of security data were displayed on the monitor and captured with the camera. It is reported that the company found it suspicious that the employee, who was regarding to leave, frequently accessed a number of security data while working from home, and called the employee to investigate.
The scope and importance of the data accessed by the employee is currently under investigation. As a matter of national industrial security, the government is also participating in the investigation. So far, it has not been confirmed whether it has leaked to competitors. A Samsung Electronics official said, “It is true that a security violation has occurred,” and “the investigation is ongoing.”
The industry is taking this leak attempt seriously. Samsung Electronics, together with Taiwan’s TSMC, is a ‘unique’ company that is mass-producing semiconductors with a 5 nanometer (1 nano = 1 billionth of a meter) class cutting-edge process. In order to catch up with TSMC, it is also pursuing a plan to invest a total of 171 trillion won in system semiconductors including foundries by 2030. As the foundry market has recently grown rapidly, Intel in the US and SMIC in China are also making astronomical investments. In the midst of this, concerns are raised that the technology gap might be narrowed quickly if Samsung Electronics’ mass-production technology is transferred to a competitor.
A semiconductor industry official said, “It is a characteristic of the semiconductor industry that production difficulty rises exponentially as it evolves into advanced processes.” do,” he said.
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