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Toyota Sues Former Contractor for Trade Secrets Theft
Toyota Motor Corp.'s U.S. manufacturing and engineering unit has filed a lawsuit in federal court in Kentucky against a former information technology contractor for allegedly stealing proprietary data about the carmaker's components.
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Toyota Motor Corp.'s U.S. manufacturing and engineering unit has filed a lawsuit in federal court in Kentucky against a former information technology contractor for allegedly stealing proprietary data about the carmaker's components.
Toyota claims Ibrahimshah Shahulhameed hacked into its supplier Web portal last week and downloaded parts designs, testing data and prices. The company also charges that he sabotaged the site's software, thus causing the network to crash, and damaged Toyota's internal server.
The company says the incident occurred after Shahulhameed was fired by his employer, Milwaukee, Wis.-based GlobalSource Information Technology Inc.
The court ordered Shahulhameed to return any Toyota data in his possession and barred him from selling the information. The carmaker says disseminating its trade secrets to competitors would cause the company "immediate and irreparable damage." Toyota says it doesn't believe the material has been leaked.
The company claims Shahulhameed was about to return to his native India, so the judge also issued a temporary restraining order preventing him from leaving the U.S.
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