Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Apple Security Chief Steps Down After iPhone Gaffe

Posted by timothy on from the don't-go-to-bars-any-more dept.

Trailrunner7 writes "Apple's vice president of global security has reportedly stepped down, roughly two months after the surfacing of news reports that an iPhone prototype had gone missing for the second time in less than two years. John Theriault, who came to Apple from Pfizer and was a former FBI agent, has retired in the wake of controversy regarding the device's disappearance and the subsequent efforts to track it down. Apple did not return a request for comment. Nevertheless, Theriault's departure follows a public relations dustup that began when an Apple employee left the prototype at a bar in San Francisco."

3 of 93 comments (clear)

  1. Re:But what more could he have done? by ColdWetDog · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This may have more to do with the second 'lost' iPhone which was handled very poorly by all reports.

    You don't impersonate police officers, by omission or commission. You don't pretend it is an episode of CSI or a rerun of 'Enemy of the State". Apple has never been forthcoming about what happened (if anything). Sounds like a screw up from the folks running the show.

    --
    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  2. Re:But what more could he have done? by nightfell · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It wasn't the fact that the iPhones were lost. It's possible there were different policies he could have implemented, but the risk of loss is impossible to circumvent. I suspect this has to do with the way the losses were handled after the fact.

    Impersonating police officers (through deceptive statements and actions, even if never explicitly claiming to be a police officer or wearing a police uniform or badge, thus technically avoiding criminal misconduct) is certainly something Apple management is not comfortable with. Given his past professional career, this seems like something ingrained into his security style, and wouldn't be a practice he would be able to sufficiently alter in the future.

    Frankly, although I'm sure he's good at what he does, it's good that he left Apple. The two just weren't a good fit.

  3. Lululemon-Apple murder by mozumder · · Score: 0, Interesting

    I think this has more to do with the Lululemon murder verdict on wednesday than the iPhone 4.

    Summary: Self-absorbed Apple store employees ignore screams from a neighboring store where a girl was being murdered: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/whats-scarier-the-slaying-or-the-bystanders-who-heard-and-did-nothing/2011/10/31/gIQA9y2tZM_story.html

    There's probably a massive lawsuit coming Apple's way about this.