**[Three Engineers Accused of Stealing Chip Security Trade Secrets from Google and Other Companies]** Odaily Planet Daily News: According to reports, federal prosecutors have arrested three Silicon Valley engineers accused of stealing sensitive chip security trade secrets from companies including Google and transferring them to unauthorized locations, including Iran. A federal grand jury in the Northern District of California has indicted Samaneh Ghandali, Soroor Ghandali, and Mohammadjavad Khosravi. According to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), during her tenure at Google, Samaneh Ghandali allegedly transferred hundreds of files, including Google’s trade secrets, to a third-party communication platform. The stolen materials involved trade secrets related to processor security and cryptography. The defendants are accused of attempting to cover up their actions by deleting files, destroying electronic records, and submitting false affidavits to the victim companies. The indictment describes that in December 2023, on the eve of traveling to Iran, Samaneh Ghandali took photos of approximately two dozen images of trade secret information displayed on the screen of a work computer from another company. While in Iran, a device associated with her accessed these photos, and Khosravi accessed other trade secret materials. Google’s internal security system detected suspicious activity in August 2023 and revoked Samaneh Ghandali’s access privileges. The three defendants are charged with conspiracy, theft of trade secrets, and obstruction of justice. The statutory maximum sentence for obstruction of justice is 20 years in prison. Vincent Liu, Chief Investment Officer of Kronos Research, stated that employees with legitimate access privileges may quietly extract highly sensitive intellectual property over time, even under existing control measures. Semiconductor and cryptography companies often face risks from “trusted insiders rather than hackers.” Dan Dadybayo, Strategic Lead at Horizontal Systems, noted that when engineers are able to move architecture, key management logic, or hardware security designs out of controlled environments, the “boundary” collapses. Dyma Budorin, Executive Chairman of Hacken, commented that certification frameworks like SOC 2 and ISO typically measure compliance maturity rather than actual resilience against specific attackers, especially insiders. These certifications demonstrate the presence of control measures during audits but do not prove that sensitive data cannot be stolen.