According to government data, industrial espionage in the automotive industry is on the rise, with Toyota, Ford, and General Motors all recently reporting cases of stolen intellectual property.
Most recently, a former Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America IT contractor is being accused of hacking into the automaker’s network and stealing trade secrets. Two of America’s largest automakers recently discovered employees who stole and shared – or perhaps sold – sensitive information to foreign competitors.
In one case, a former Ford employee stole thousands of secrets in order to secure a job with another company. The stolen information included engine and transmission mounting, electric power supplies and electric subsystems. That former employee was caught, slapped with a $12,500 fine and is currently serving a 70-month sentence in federal prison.
The American automaker however estimates the theft to be between $50 and $100 million in labor costs.
[Source: Automotive News]