Remember when Apple held an internal seminar on the importance of not leaking secret information, it leaked and we had a good laugh (or not)? Well, it happened again, in a way, but now itâs the most serious thing.
Mark Gurman, one of the most respected reporters focused on the Apple world and famous for his privileged information, released today on Bloomberg a new memo distributed internally at Ma, which, once again, reinforces the companyâs fully anti-leakage instance and the efforts being made to curb this type of practice.
Unlike the seminar of months ago, however, here Apple takes on a more serious tone, not to say threatening; apparently, the thing is bothering the top management of the company.
Here is the statement in its entirety (in our free translation) it is rather long, yes, but it is worth reading:
Last month, Apple discovered and fired the employee responsible for leaking details of an internal, confidential meeting about the companyâs software planning. Hundreds of software engineers were present, and thousands more at the company were given details about what was discussed. One person betrayed everyoneâs trust.
The employee who leaked the meeting information to a reporter told Apple investigators that he did this because he thought he would not be discovered. But leaks are either Apple employees, temporarily hired people or suppliers who are always caught, and they are being caught faster than ever.
In many cases, spillers do not have the initial purpose of leaking anything. Instead, people who work for Apple are often targets of the press, analyst and bloggers who make friends with them on social and professional networks, such as LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook, and start trying to extract information. As flattering as it is that someone approaches you asking for this information, it is important to remember that you are being manipulated. The success of these outsiders is measured in the amount of secrets they can get from Apple for you and make them public. A scoop on an unreleased Apple product can generate huge traffic for a publication and benefit the blogger or reporter who obtained it financially. But the Apple employee who leaked the information has everything to lose.
The impact of a leak goes far beyond the people working on a project.
Leaving Appleâs work weakens everyone in the company and the years weâve worked to create our products. «Thousands of people work tirelessly for months to bring in every major software release,» says UIKit leader Josh Shaffer, whose work was part of the iOS 11 leak last fall. «Seeing everything leak devastating to all of us.»
The impact of a spill goes beyond the people who work on a particular project and it is felt throughout the company. Information leaked about a new product can negatively impact sales of the current model, give competing companies more time to work on a competitive response and lead to less sales of our new product when it is launched. «We want to have a chance to tell our customers why the product is great, and what it is done poorly by someone else,» says Greg Joswiak, of product marketing.
Apple made investments that had a huge impact on the companyâs ability to identify and catch leaks. Just before the special event last September, an employee leaked a link with the back Golden Master iOS 11 to the press, again believing it wouldnât get caught. The unreleased system detailed new features in hardware and software that would be announced soon, such as the iPhone X. Within days, the leak was identified through an internal investigation and dismissed. Global Securityâs digital forensic science area also helped to catch several employees who were passing confidential details about new products, such as the iPhone X, iPad Pro and AirPods, to a blogger from 9to5Mac.
Spills in the supply chain are getting caught, too. Global Security has worked closely with vendors to prevent theft of Appleâs intellectual property, as well as to identify individuals who attempt to access information beyond their reach. They have also teamed up with companies to identify both physical and technological vulnerabilities and ensure that their security levels meet or exceed Appleâs expectations. These programs almost eliminated the theft of prototypes and products from factories, revealed leaks and prevented many others from leaking information from there.
Spillers donât just lose their jobs at Apple. In some cases, they face jail time and gigantic fines for breaking into the network and stealing trade secrets, both classified as federal crimes. In 2017, Apple picked up 29 leakers; 12 of them were arrested. Among them, Apple employees, temporary employees and some partners in the companyâs supply chain. These people donât just lose their jobs; they may find it extremely difficult to find employment elsewhere. «The potential criminal consequences of a spill are real,» says Tom Moyer of Global Security. «And it can become part of your personal and professional identity forever.»
Even if they have serious consequences, leaks are completely preventable. They are the result of the decision of someone who may not have thought about the impact of their actions. «Everyone comes to Apple to do the best job of their lives, work that matters and contributes to what all 135,000 people in that company are doing together,» says Joswiak. «The best way to honor these contributions is not to leak them.»
As you can see, Apple is no longer a joke: this is the first time that the company has spoken frankly about the legal consequences of leaking its internal information in which leakers have not been arrested before, but again to see Cupertinoâs high summit saying very clearly «If you leak something, you will be arrested».
Apple related subject guru John Gruber points out an interesting aspect of the note: the leak from the meeting, cited in the first paragraph, was published by Mark Gurman in Bloomberg. Then, in the seventh paragraph, the memo quotes a ?blogger from 9to5Mac?Who was receiving information related to the iPhone X, iPad Pro and AirPods before their launches. Gruber does not say for sure which blogger they refer to, but points to this article published in January 2016, almost a year before the launch of the AirPods, about his project. Who published it? Yes, Gurman, still working on 9to5Mac.
Gruber speculates that all the cases cited in the memo were obtained, in fact, by Gurman, which only makes it more curious that this memo itself was also published by the reporter. That is, someone can be fired for leaking the memo to Gurman about leakers who were fired after leaking information to Gurman, my head also gave a nod. But the fact that there are still (many) people at Apple willing to pass on this information.
Who didnât like Maâs tone in the memo very much was developer Steven Troughton-Smith: according to him, Apple reverses the situation by placing most of the blame for the leaks on evil journalists and bloggers (me, evil? Never) who would be persuading company employees when the other reality.
Appleâs memo about how they think âleakersâ come to be is very cute. They seem to have the order of events pretty backwards, but Iâm sure they prefer blaming the press and âbloggersâ than a company culture that pushes employees to enthuse (or bitch) about things they shouldnât ?
â Steve Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith) April 13, 2018
Appleâs memo about how they think ?leaks? come in really cute. They seem to see the order of the situation upside down, but Iâm sure they prefer to blame the press and ?bloggers? than a corporate culture that encourages employees to be very excited (or to boast) about things they shouldnât be. .
And, at the end of the day, humanity walks like this: the fine line that Apple walks between being the friendly company with a perfect public image and being the relentless pursuer of loud employees can slip into an unwanted side, which is the attack of the press . Letâs see where it goes.
