Intel worker fired, then disappears with 18,000 secret files in digital heist

A former Intel software engineer named Jinfeng Luo has been sued by Intel for $250,000 after allegedly stealing 18,000 confidential files, including data labeled “Intel Top Secret.” Luo joined Intel in 2014 but was fired on July 7, 2024, as part of company-wide layoffs that have eliminated 35,000 jobs in the past two years, as per the report by The Mercury News.

Intel’s mass job cuts are part of a major cost-cutting plan to handle a serious financial crisis that became public in late July and early August 2024. According to the lawsuit, Luo first tried to copy files from his Intel laptop to an external drive about a week before he was set to leave. Intel’s security systems blocked the attempt.