Espionage 2.0. If cryptocurrencies have the reputation – very surfed – to be used in the context of cybercriminal activitiesthey can also be used for other illegal activities such as industrial spying! Back today to the case of this employee of the Rippling company who admitted to having been paid in Ethereum to spy on his business for the benefit of Deel, another competing company.
The key points of this article:A Rippling employee admitted to having been paid in cryptocurrency to spy on his business for the benefit of the competing company Deel. Rippling has initiated legal proceedings against Deel for industrial spying, while Deel denies these accusations.
A spy paid in ETH for information
April 1, Keith O’Briena former company employee Rippling filed an affidavit, an oath declaration, to the court of Dublin. In this document, he claims to have been recruited by Part To spy on your business, Rippling. As a reminder, Rippling et Part There are two companies that offer payroll and human resources management solutions for international companies. According to him, Keith O’Brien would have been recruited by Part in September 2024 when he was still employed at Rippling. He would then have been paid $ 5,000 per month in Ethereum To provide confidential information on RIPLING. It seems that payment in crypto was chosen by Deel because it «Would leave no trace». Between September 2024 and March 2025he would have transmitted sensitive information to Deel via Telegram. They included details in particular on the commercial strategy de Rippling, ses clients et His future projects.
This beginner spy was paid in Eth for information on his business
Rippling counterattack while Deel denies in block
He said he accepted this offer because he was in financial difficultythat he thought that Deel was rightly and finally that he did not realize the severity of his actions. Following these revelationRippling decided to file a complaint against Deel for industrial espionage. The company accuses Deel of having orchestrated a surveillance campaign illegal To obtain a competitive advantage. Rippling claims damage et interests as well as an injunction to prevent Part to use the information obtained illegally. For his part, Part not les accusations And says she never asked O'Brien to commit illegal acts. The company maintains that it simply hired O'Brien as consultant For market information. Part Finally affirms that she has never used the information provided by O'Brien to harm Rippling. It will be up to justice to disentangle the true from the false and to determine whether the regrets of the main accused, which denounced, are sincere. But we can once again realize that using cryptocurrency thinking of bypassing laws does not really work and that the police are able to trace the funds, locate and seize them. Unless you are called Lazurus …