Social Currency with Sammi Cohen Inside Rippling vs. Deel’s Billion-Dollar Espionage War
Aug 15, 2025
A scandal erupts in Silicon Valley as Rippling and Deel clash in an espionage saga. A corporate spy infiltrates one company, leaking sensitive data while juggling cryptic messages and burner phones. The tale thickens with honeypots, family feuds, and destroyed phones—one even met its end via axe! As RICO charges loom, the stakes escalate, revealing a world where startups will stop at nothing to outsmart each other. Whether you're in tech or just love a gripping story, this tale is a must-hear!
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Payroll Exec Recruited As A Spy
- Keith O'Brien allegedly acted as an inside spy for Deel while employed at Rippling, recruited after failing to join Deel directly.
- He says Deel's CEO pitched the role as a James Bond–style operation and paid him about $6,000 monthly.
Insider Access Beats External Hacks
- The alleged espionage targeted Slack, Salesforce, Google Drive, HR systems, and recorded sales calls to extract customer and competitive intelligence.
- Gaining authorized insider access allowed systematic harvesting of trade secrets and recruitment targets across Rippling's systems.
Honeypot Unmasks The Spy
- Rippling discovered the leak after Deal mistakenly forwarded stolen documents to a journalist, who alerted Rippling instead of publishing.
- Rippling then used a honeypot of fake sensitive files to confirm O'Brien's access and catch the spy in the act.