When Hardev Sidhu took a medical leave from his job at consulting giant Accenture in 2009, his employer continued his pay, benefits and access to its secure online network, which contained proprietary information.

Accenture did not know that Sidhu had fabricated the illness and started working for HCL, a direct competitor, two months into the leave. About a year later, Accenture discovered the deception and found that Sidhu had downloaded more than 900 documents during his leave.