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In a Leaked Memo, Apple Warns Employees to Stop Leaking Information

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Re: In a Leaked Memo, Apple Warns Employees to Stop Leaking Information

#61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a little skeptical. The intelligence services would say something that would make you skeptical of the motivations of leakers. If they're selfishly motivated the public doesn't mind them being locked up and put into isolation and tortured in ways that don't leave a mark. The leakers that come to mind immediately are Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning whom both suffered greatly for their leaks (Snowden had to leav…

No you can read the declassified analysis of why people leak on the CIA website https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intellig...

Why does your response start with the word No?

Re: In a Leaked Memo, Apple Warns Employees to Stop Leaking Information

#62

I am interested in what criminal activity warrants an arrest for leaking company information. Seems like it would be a civil issue?

The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act casts a pretty wide net, stealing credentials, abusing shared access, etc.

Also IP laws, industrial espionage laws.

Re: In a Leaked Memo, Apple Warns Employees to Stop Leaking Information

#63
post #36

This highly contrasts Netflix, which barely has any leaks, although discloses almost all their information to employees. Is it Apple's company size and culture that make leaks inevitable?

It's possible, but I don't think that's the primary factor.

Netflix is a software/service company. When they've got something new, they can just ship it right away. Or if they decide to change something at the last minute, they can do that.

Apple is a hardware company, and they produce everything at volume (millions of units). Their products, by nature, have long lead times. The design must be finalized well before it ever ships.

If I were a tech reporter looking for leaks, I wouldn't place much trust in anything I heard from Netflix, because it'd be too easy for them to change it completely before it ships. Also, if the final product might be released to everyone tomorrow, my incorrect info will still be fresh in everyone's mind.

This applies with Apple, too. I hear a lot more rumors/leaks regarding the shape of the next iPhone, than I do rumors/leaks about the on-screen visuals of the next iOS (which could easily change).

Re: In a Leaked Memo, Apple Warns Employees to Stop Leaking Information

#64
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I’ve never understood what the employee gets out of it The intelligence services have done a great deal of research into the persona of the press leaker/Wikileaks leaker (as distinct from the more traditional espionage leaker). A common trait is for the press leaker to be either highly over-qualified for their job or believe themselves to be over-qualified for their job. The belief coming out of that research is a s…

I'm a little skeptical. The intelligence services would say something that would make you skeptical of the motivations of leakers. If they're selfishly motivated the public doesn't mind them being locked up and put into isolation and tortured in ways that don't leave a mark. The leakers that come to mind immediately are Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning whom both suffered greatly for their leaks (Snowden had to leav…

Didn't Manning leak classified information that threatened the lives of foreign operatives?

I never understood why Snowden and Manning are put on equal footing in that regard.

Re: In a Leaked Memo, Apple Warns Employees to Stop Leaking Information

#65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a little skeptical. The intelligence services would say something that would make you skeptical of the motivations of leakers. If they're selfishly motivated the public doesn't mind them being locked up and put into isolation and tortured in ways that don't leave a mark. The leakers that come to mind immediately are Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning whom both suffered greatly for their leaks (Snowden had to leav…

No you can read the declassified analysis of why people leak on the CIA website https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intellig...

The point, I think, was that CIA is biased, not that they came to these results. You cannot really trust their research, since they analyze their «enemies». It is like when a skin care company cites that «9 out of 10 said this is the best skin cream (in a survey of 30 people)»

Re: In a Leaked Memo, Apple Warns Employees to Stop Leaking Information

#66
My favorite take on Apple’s culture of secrecy and how it harms everyone comes from the illustrious Bret Victor: http://worrydream.com/Apple/

In short, your personal goals and the goals of the corporation and its executives rarely align as much as you think.

Re: In a Leaked Memo, Apple Warns Employees to Stop Leaking Information

#67
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I completely understand what's in it for the reporter, but I've never understood what the employee gets out of it. I've been reading Mark Gurman's scoops about Apple for years so I'm definitely biased in wanting that to continue. It just seems like there's tons of upside for the reporter and only downside for the leaker. There's four reasons people leak information: 1. Out of moral responsibility to report unsafe o…

Somewhere on there should be personal vendettas. More than once I’ve seen screenshots of internal conversations on Business Insider that were clearly motivated by a desire to get that person fired.

I'd consider that part of #2.

Re: In a Leaked Memo, Apple Warns Employees to Stop Leaking Information

#68
post #55

>In 2017, Apple caught 29 leakers. 12 of those were arrested. And what happened to the other 17 (the majority)? Were they "just" fired, were they hot iron branded or obliged to wear at all times a scarlet L ?

It could be that the leaks were not serious enough for discipline, or were accidental enough that management thought that lesser discipline would be enough that it would not happen again. We really don't have enough information to begin to know.

Re: In a Leaked Memo, Apple Warns Employees to Stop Leaking Information

#70

Can they not tweak specific word variations to track down where the leak is coming from? You can narrow it down to which department the leak is coming from at least.

Is there a name for that? Steganography? Watermarking? Both don’t specifically describe the idea of swapping words or homographs (rn = m) to embed the name of the person who received a copy of a document to bust the leaker.
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