Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s largest and most advanced chipmaker, announced on Tuesday it had fired two employees whom it suspected of stealing and attempting to share cutting-edge trade secrets.
The two engineers, alongside a third suspect, have since been arrested in what is the first trade secrets case brought under Taiwan’s National Security Act, a law that intends to protect the country’s advantage in producing pioneering semiconductors, Nikkei reported.
TSMC said it discovered the unauthorized access — which related to its 2-nanometer chip technology — through internal monitoring systems. The company said it rapidly fired the employees in-line with its “zero-tolerance policy” for such issues before reporting the case to the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office.
