As a target for thieves, silicon is as good as gold--or drugs--these days, according to law enforcement agencies. An eight-inch silicon wafer with 100 chips can sell for $50,000 on the street. Even a few memory chips from a desktop computer can mean a fast $100 or so. What's more, the chips, like drugs, are easily transportable and almost impossible to identify or trace after a theft.
No wonder then that thieves--especially gangs of Southeast Asian criminals--have been targeting chips and other high-tech items in a series of robberies and break-ins throughout Silicon Valley and other advanced electronics manufacturing areas. Detective Larry Whitman of the Santa Clara (CA) Police Department estimates that in the last two years alone, over 100 manufacturers have reported what is known as "take-over" robberies: incidents where thieves break into a manufacturing site, tie up employees and make off with whatever they can carry away. At times, the thieves actually kidnap company owners or CEOs on the road or at their homes and take them back to the facility, forcing them to unlock secured areas where chips are stored.
Sometimes the thieves come and go unseen, as in a traditional burglary. UniForum reports that its offices have been burgled twice in the past six months, the last time during the weekend before UniForum '96. "They knew what they were doing," says Mark Neal, director of finance and administration, describing the criminals. "They knew everyone would be gone that weekend." Neal estimates that the second break-in cost the association about $5,000. The thieves took memory chips from several PCs, as well as an expensive color jet printer.
Describing his feelings after the theft, Neal says, "We felt violated. That's an overused word, but we work hard to have what we have here, and you get angry." He also points out that "somebody could have been working late and walked in on the theft. Somebody could have been injured."
A third way chips and expensive machines can disappear is through employees. These "inside jobs" are hard to trace and can result in sizable losses for companies.
High-tech theft is not limited to Silicon Valley; other areas in the United States have reported problems. Several microchip burglaries have recently occurred in Austin, TX, some of them for more than $250,000. Last year, local law enforcement agencies set up a special high-tech crime investigative unit in response to the thefts. Technical and financial assistance has been provided from local manufacturers and branches such as Advanced Micro Devices, Dell Computer, IBM, Motorola and National Instruments.
Detective Whitman has several recommendations for companies that want to "harden" themselves against thieves. Many of these suggestions can be applied to any company, but they are especially relevant to high-tech manufacturers.