2019 EQT Corp — post-layoff trade-secrets litigation alleging mass confidential-file copying by departing engineers
Data compromised
Oil/gas reservoir evaluations, drilling economics, and related proprietary datasets per court filings reported in press
Technical writeup
EQT sued former Rice Energy-legacy engineers alleging rapid export of hundreds of confidential exploration files on the eve of mass layoffs, triggering forensic and telephone discovery orders—benchmark insider data misappropriation rather than external ransomware.
Root cause
Authorized-user misuse / alleged CFAA-adjacent data haul tied to workforce transition