Chip machine maker ASML victim of data theft by former employee in China

A former employee in China stole data from chip machine maker ASML, the company said in its annual report. The former employee stole information “relating to proprietary technology,” the Veldhoven-based company said.

ASML notified authorities in the Netherlands and the United States about the “unauthorized misappropriation of data.” The company had to inform the American authorities because it worries that the data theft may have violated “certain export control regulations.”

The Dutch chip machine maker increasingly finds itself in the middle of geopolitical tensions between the United States and China. The U.S. wants to ban the company from exporting any of its chip machines to China. ASML is already not giving any new technology to China, but the Biden administration also wants a ban on older machines.

At first sight, ASML does not think the data theft incident will impact its business operations. “We are implementing additional remedial measures in light of this incident,” the company said.

A spokesperson for ASML told NOS that the theft happened recently and is still under investigation. “So we can’t really go into details yet,” the spokesperson said. “It is extra annoying that it was caused by our own employee.”