Brookline Man Sentenced for Foreign Economic Espionage

BOSTON—A Brookline man was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper to six months in prison, followed by six months in home confinement and electronic monitoring, and fined $25,000 for committing foreign economic espionage. This is the first prosecution in Massachusetts for foreign economic espionage and only the eighth in the nation.

Elliot Doxer, 43, had previously pleaded guilty to one count of foreign economic espionage for providing trade secrets over an 18-month period to an undercover federal agent posing as an Israeli intelligence officer.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz said, “Foreign espionage poses serious risk to our nation’s security and to corporate America. I want to commend the investigators and prosecutors in this case, and thank Akamai Technologies, Inc. for their cooperation and assistance. Thanks to the outstanding cooperation between law enforcement and Akamai Technologies, Inc., the government was able to thwart a potential breach in our national and corporate security.”

“Mr. Doxer’s criminal actions were an affront to the dedicated workers in the thriving technology industry. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s investigation of him should not go unnoticed by those who seek to steal trade secrets and confidential business information,” said Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Boston. “Preventing, deterring, and detecting those intent on stealing trade secrets and American technology from local industry leaders is a high priority for the FBI. Because the Boston area is a worldwide leader of innovative technology and research, the FBI has a vigorous program to educate companies on the enormous threat posed by economic espionage and teaches companies how to detect and deter it. I also want to recognize the U.S. Postal Inspector’s Service, which provided the FBI with substantial assistance during the investigation.”

On June 22, 2006, Doxer sent an e-mail to the Israeli consulate in Boston stating that he worked in the finance department of Akamai Technologies, Inc., and was willing to provide any information that might help Israel. In later communications, Doxer said that his chief desire “was to help our homeland and our war against our enemies.” He also asked for payment in light of the risks he was taking.

In Sept. 2007, a federal agent posing as an undercover Israeli intelligence officer spoke to Doxer and established a “dead drop” where the agent and Doxer could exchange written communications. From Oct. 2007 through March 2009, Doxer visited the dead drop at least 62 times to leave information, retrieve communications, and check for new communications.

Included in the trade secret information that Doxer provided the undercover agent were an extensive list of Akamai’s customers; contracts between the company and various customers revealing contact, services, pricing, and termination date information; and a comprehensive list of the company’s employees that revealed their positions and full contact information. Doxer also broadly described the company’s physical and computer security systems and stated that he could travel to the foreign country and could support special and sensitive operations in his local area if needed. Because Akamai’s information was disclosed only to an undercover agent from the beginning, the information was never in danger of actual exposure outside the company.

We acknowledge the Government of Israel for their cooperation in this investigation, and underscore that the Information does not allege that the government of Israel or anyone acting on its behalf committed any offense under U.S. laws in this case. We would also like to acknowledge and thank Akamai Technologies, Inc., for its assistance throughout all stages of the investigation and prosecution.

U.S. Attorney Ortiz; SAC DesLauriers of the FBI; and Robert Bethel, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service made the announcement today. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys William D. Weinreb and Scott L. Garland, respectively in Ortiz’s Antiterrorism and National Security Unit and Cybercrimes Unit, and by Trial Attorneys Kathleen Kedian and David Recker of the Department of Justices’s Counter-espionage Section.