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

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171–180 of 268 posts

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

#171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The notion that leakers are driven in part by ego was not invented by the CIA. It's well-known and exploited by reporters. As an example there's a short discussion in the recent movie The Post where Post reporters are trying to figure out who leaked the Pentagon Papers. Ben Bagdikian says something like these guys are always a bit of a showboat and it leads him to remember Ellsberg at Rand. EDIT to add: the CIA is in…

The Post is a movie about the Washington Post, which has a large undisclosed financial conflict of interest with the CIA. Jeff Bezos's AWS has a large CIA contract, and Bezos owns the Post. Getting a take about leakers in such a movie is not the best way to acquire a real picture of the world. The CIA only locks up brown people and tortures them in Thailand (star). It refers US leakers to the FBI which throws them in…

God three letter agencies are terrifying.

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

#172
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 ?

> 12 of those were arrested It's pretty weird to see the breach of an NDA in a corporate environment lead to an arrest rather than just a civil lawsuit between the two sides of a contract. Apple seems to be a bit eager here to play the fear card and I find it surprising that law enforcement would do more than take their statement and give them a copy of it. Breach of contract would be the worst that you could accuse…

I would guess that those who are arrested are the ones along the supply chain involved in leaks to countries who are economic rivals to the US (China, in particular).

But I wouldn't put it past Apple to try to prosecute anyone and everyone who leaks.

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

#173
post #64

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…

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.

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

No. Foreign agents or sources working with US intelligence (which are not the same as operatives) maybe.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/20/chelsea-mann...

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

#174
Fortunately companies cannot yet control their employees completely, and so leaks will keep happening. This may be rather controversial, but I think that's a good thing. It pleases me to see people who do not completely toe the line getting themselves into companies for the purpose of eventually leaking something, effectively hindering the rise of total corporate control. Especially with a company so secretive and forceful in its mission of locking out devices against their owners (and attackers, ostensibly), it's good to see some "retaliation".

To all the leakers: we need people like you, who are not afraid of the consequences of doing what you think is right. Many thanks to those who leaked the schematics and service manuals for various products (including Apple's), the HDCP master key, the AACS key, the SD card specs, the memory stick specs, everything on SciHub, and the list goes on... countless people would not have gained the knowledge and skills they have without your neighbourly efforts.

Some related commentary:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11008717

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16346174

Edit: interesting to see the points on this bounce up and down. It seems I've struck a nerve.

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

#175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a huge advantage in your competitors not knowing what your focus is, particularly if you're working on something out of left fields. The more you can hide from them, the more of a head start you can have over them.

Does Apple have a head start on most things they do? Most observers acknowledge they aren't usually the first to do something, rather, they're good at execution and polish. They were beaten to market on pretty much everything: watches, bezelless displays with notch (e.g. Essential Phone), smart/speakers (Amazon, Google, Sonos), Streaming/TV (Roku, Amazon, Chromecast), etc. Really, I think the world would be better if…

TouchID and FaceID come to mind.

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

#176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cupertino doesn't have its own police or fire department. Get real.

However, they have a division of the county Sheriff's department. http://www.cupertino.org/our-city/departments/public-safety/... I can't comment on their loyalties though...

They are probably just a normal set of people that show up and do their job in a non-conspiratorial sort of way.

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

#177

I wonder how many ex-intelligence-agency counterintelligence people Apply employs. Probably at least a few. Question for those who've gone through CI training: Do Apple leaks all fit into one of the MICE categories? I don't think there is any new motivation. (Money, Ideology, Conscience, Ego) Would be very interested to see what programs they have developed to intentionally generate false but plausible information in…

[deleted]

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

#178
How much does a major leak of apple inside information cost?

$50,000

$100,000

$200,000

more?

I am assuming they dont leak the information for free. And if they do it for monetary reasons - the amount has to be large enough to justify risking your job (freakonomics 101). If they do it just for their ego boost (oh i got approached by so and so i must be very important) - then they are dumber than i thought.

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

#179
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

5. Personal profit. In a lot of such leaks the employee is paid by an outside source.

I'll repost a comment I made a few moments ago [0] again here: > Are media organizations like 9to5mac (mentioned in Apple's memo) paying Apple insiders for the information they provide? > Personally, I wouldn't think that the leakers were getting paid. Even if they were, I imagine the amount that these particular online web sites are able to pay is very much -- especially when compared to the average Apple employee's…

>Just how much can we expect Bloomberg might pay for a copy of this memo?

I'm guessing that it's very much against Bloomberg's ethics policies to pay anything at all.

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

#180
post #69

There is also a possibility, that at least some of the "leaks" are in reality marketing ploys orchestrated by the company.

It really seems like a company with the resources and obsessiveness of Apple would have counterintelligence teams to manipulate public perception with false leaks.
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