Silicon Valley engineers arrested, charged with stealing Google trade secrets
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Three Silicon Valley engineers were arrested and charged with stealing trade secrets from Google and other US technology companies and transferring sensitive information to unauthorized locations, including Iran, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.
Samaneh Ghandali, 41, Soroor Ghandali, 32, and Mohammadjavad Khosravi, also known as Mohammad Khosravi, 40, all of San Jose, were arrested Thursday, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
A federal judge indicted the developers on charges of conspiracy to steal trade secrets, theft and attempted theft of trade secrets, and obstruction of justice.
“We have developed safeguards to protect our confidential information and immediately notified law enforcement after discovering this incident,” Google spokesperson José Castañeda said in a statement to FOX Business. “Today’s lawsuits are an important step toward accountability and we will continue to work to ensure that our trade secrets remain protected.”
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Three Silicon Valley engineers have been charged with stealing Google trade secrets and transferring sensitive information to unauthorized locations, including Iran, federal prosecutors said. (Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)
The defendants found work at technology companies specializing in computer processors, according to the lawsuit filed Thursday.
According to prosecutors, sisters Samaneh Ghandali and Soroor Ghandali worked at Google before moving to another technology company called “Company 3,” headquartered in Santa Clara, California. Khosravi, who is married to Samaneh Ghandali, worked for a separate company identified in the lawsuit as Company 2, headquartered in San Diego.
The DOJ alleges that the defendants used their positions to obtain confidential and sensitive information as part of a scheme to steal trade secrets.
The defendants “released confidential and sensitive documents, including trade secrets related to processor security and cryptography and other technologies, from Google and other technology companies to unauthorized third-party and personal sites, including to operating devices related to each other’s employers, and to Iran.”
“As alleged, the defendants used their positions to assign confidential trade secrets to their employers,” U.S. Attorney Craig H. Missakian said in a statement. “Our office will continue to lead the way in protecting America’s innovation and we will vigorously prosecute people who steal critical technology for improper profit or to benefit countries that wish us harm.”
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Federal prosecutors say former Google employees conspired to steal confidential company information and send it overseas. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images/Getty Images)
The lawsuit alleges that while working at Google, Samaneh Ghandali transferred hundreds of files, including the company’s trade secrets, to third-party social networking sites. Soroor Ghandali is also accused of passing on Google’s trade secret files while employed by the company.
Prosecutors accused the defendants of trying to cover up their actions by sending “false, signed affidavits to the victims’ technology companies about the conduct and stolen trade secrets, destroying the extracted files and other electronic equipment records, and concealing the means of dismissal to avoid detection by the victims’ technology companies.”
According to a Google spokesperson, the company discovered the alleged theft through standard security precautions and referred the case to law enforcement after conducting its own internal investigation.
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A federal judge has indicted three developers over a scheme that allegedly involved Google trade secrets, the Justice Department said. (Rolf Vennenbernd/ via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Google said it maintains strict security measures to protect its confidential information and intellectual property, including limiting employee access to sensitive data, requiring device authentication before network access, and mandating two-factor authentication for employee accounts.
In addition, Google embeds the work of employees on its network, including the transfer of files to third-party platforms such as Telegram. The company began blocking downloads to the Telegraph from corporate laptops last year.
The lawsuit says Google took “numerous steps to protect its proprietary technology, information, and trade secrets.”
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Prosecutors say Google secured its physical environment and restricted access to its buildings, as well as its computer systems and network.
According to the lawsuit, Samaneh Ghandali is a native of Iran who became a US citizen in 2018, Mohammadjavad Khosravi is an Iranian who became a full-time US citizen in 2019, and Soroor Ghandali was in the United States on a non-immigrant student visa.
