The latest incident involves the attempted, though unsuccessful, theft of data from a computer at Indonesian mobile operator PT Excelcomindo Pratama , according to this report from local Website Viva News.
According to the report, the Huawei employee was caught in the act as he tried to copy files onto a USB memory stick from the computer of a PT Excelcomindo network planning manager.
An industry source suggests the incident took place during Muslim prayer time, something that further infuriated Excelcomindo staff.
The source also suggests the incident came to light after the details of Facebook discussions among Excelcomindo employees about the Huawei man's actions were leaked to the local press.
In a statement emailed to Light Reading Huawei said:
- Huawei has a strict code of business conduct, particularly with regards to intellectual property owned by third party, which all employees are required to adhere to. While the personal action by this employee is in no way connected with our company, the individual employee has breached this code and has been dismissed...
Huawei takes this matter very seriously and has taken steps to ensure that a similar incident does not occur in the future. PT Excelcomindo Pratama has accepted that this incident was a result of the actions of one individual and considers the matter closed.
The incident brings to mind the industrial espionage techniques deployed by a Huawei employee at the Supercomm tradeshow in 2004, when Light Reading tracked down a Huawei employee who had been caught photographing a rival's technology after the exhibition floor had closed and in breach of show regulations. (See Huawei in Spying Flap.)
— Ray Le Maistre, International News Editor, Light Reading
If some stupid guy decided he may get a promotion bringing his boss some confidential files stolen from competitors, something wrong with this fired looser, not with the company.