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In a Leaked Memo, Apple Warns Employees to Stop Leaking Information (bloomberg.com)

Apple warned employees to stop leaking internal information on future plans and raised the specter of potential legal action and criminal charges, one of the most-aggressive moves by the world's largest technology company to control information about its activities. From a report: The Cupertino, California-based company said in a lengthy memo posted to its internal blog that it "caught 29 leakers," last year and noted that 12 of those were arrested. "These people not only lose their jobs, they can face extreme difficulty finding employment elsewhere," Apple added. The company declined to comment on Friday. Apple outlined situations in which information was leaked to the media, including a meeting earlier this year where Apple's software engineering head Craig Federighi told employees that some planned iPhone software features would be delayed. Apple also cited a yet-to-be-released software package that revealed details about the unreleased iPhone X and new Apple Watch. Leaked information about a new product can negatively impact sales of current models, give rivals more time to begin on a competitive response, and lead to fewer sales when the new product launches, according to the memo.

100 comments

  1. NDA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I hate it when companies force NDAs on business operations. I had one that said we couldn't talk about any aspect of the business, even though there was nothing to hide except corrupt business practices (which is probably the reason for it).

    1. Re: NDA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They're in a weird position
      Even the dumb shit they do is instantly copied
      See the rash of new android phones with notches
      I don't blame them for wanting 3 months of being the only one with some feature before the chinese surprise

    2. Re: NDA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They're in a weird position
      Even the dumb shit they do is instantly copied
      See the rash of new android phones with notches...

      If stupid shit like notches ends up being a key "feature" copied by the competition, then Apple should just stop with any actual development. They can rake in billions by simply offering the same fucking hardware in a dozen new colors.

    3. Re:NDA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I worked at a company where even one's vacation time was covered under NDA. People actually got fired and threatened with legal action for letting others know when they had off.

    4. Re: NDA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apple was not the first with the notch. Look up Essential phone

    5. Re:NDA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That is rather extreme; it's not the CIA, is it, like letting the enemy know when a mole can sit on someone else's empty desk

    6. Re: NDA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

      You're trying to equate Apple to technology; I believe thats where the mistake lies. If you'd compare them to the fashion industry, then everything might make sense. Its all about rehashing old ideas and making them seem hip and new.

    7. Re:NDA? by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 3, Informative

      I work in the videogame industry, and so I've worked my entire career with the knowledge that absolutely everything I was working on was covered under the blanket NDA everyone signs before they're hired. There's a lot of people interested in the stuff we're working on, and so I guess human nature being what it is, it's hard not to tell people what neat stuff you see being worked on. But leaks tend to kill the careful marketing plan put in place for the game you may have spent several years developing.

      So, I guess I'm sort of used to that. You simply don't talk about what you're working on unless you have express permission, or you risk get disciplined or fired. Given that there's a lot of interest in what Apple does, I can see why maintaining internal secrets is important to them as well.

      I'm actually fairly impressed when I've worked at a company with several hundred people and there WEREN'T leaks. I can imagine how difficult that must be when you have many thousands of employees.

      --
      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
    8. Re:NDA? by toonces33 · · Score: 1

      I guess none of them were married then.

    9. Re:NDA? by datavirtue · · Score: 1

      How many times has Apple thrown accelerant on issues and fanned the flames in order to have the authorities descend on its employees or customers? Honestly asking....I know someone has this saved off somewhere.

      --
      I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
    10. Re: NDA? by datavirtue · · Score: 1
      --
      I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
    11. Re:NDA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      "But leaks tend to kill the careful marketing plan put in place for the game you may have spent several years developing."

      I assure you the plan was not as carefully thought through as you claim.

    12. Re:NDA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Depends on the situation. In most cases I would agree with NDA. If it's corrupt then there's whistleblower law to protect you.

      In most cases NDA make sense
      1. Personal information shouldn't be leaked
      2. Competitor would get advantage and hurt your company's business.
      3. Leak information may not have the whole picture and put company in bad light because it's taken out of context.

    13. Re:NDA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes but videogames are important, apple is not.

    14. Re: NDA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd love to know the context. Of the NDA covering vacations and how far it went. The situations I've heard come close to that fall in a few ranges. Can talk to fellow employees because they want to keep them in the dark about benefits available. Large assembly line based businesses where knowing when a plant retooling is happening might lead to a competitive advantage. In the case of key positions so the limited backup capability shouldn't be disclosed. Finally, high-security businesses where knowing when and where someone would be puts the employee in danger of at risk to being compromised.

    15. Re:NDA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      18 U.S. Code 1832 - Theft of trade secrets :: So, in the case of Apple employees sharing information about Apple re-using other people's ideas and technology - they could face up to 10 years in jail. The memo also threatens employees further that they will never find another job again because Apple will make sure this follows them until the day they die. They treat their employees about as well as they do 3rd-party developers and their own customers. Nice place to work for...

  2. leaking is advertising by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I call bullshit.

  3. Oh.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    the iRONY!

  4. Not to worry ... by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 2, Funny

    ... it "caught 29 leakers," last year and noted that 12 of those were arrested. "These people not only lose their jobs, they can face extreme difficulty finding employment elsewhere," ...

    ... I imagine Trump will pardon them too.

    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    1. Re:Not to worry ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wasn't aware Scooter Libby worked for Apple...

  5. [Comment Removed] by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    [Text Removed]

    1. Re:[Comment Removed] by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's OK because... If you used Windows they already have a copy of the text as you typed it. If you posted it to the Internet... Google, Facebook, Amazon, NSA, and Russia has a copy.

  6. Re: Trump Eunuchs celebrate leaking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hey can't you just be happy the president is a democrat?

  7. So Was The Source Of The Leak Memo a Leak? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    It is leaks all the way down...

  8. threaten much? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    "if you leak, we will find you, we will find your children, your whole family and add them to our silicon valley do not hire list" /s

    Reminds me of this... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Tech_Employee_Antitrust_Litigation

    1. Re:threaten much? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      apple will probably poach Liam Neeson next.

  9. Gotta love it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A leaked memo warning people not to leak things.

    1. Re:Gotta love it by supremebob · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Knowing Apple, they probably added some sort of digital fingerprint to the memo so they could catch the leaker.

      I hope that the leaker was smart enough not to forward the headers...

    2. Re:Gotta love it by Provocateur · · Score: 1

      not to forward the headers

      Damn

      --
      WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
    3. Re:Gotta love it by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      That's easy, you just remove everything that's between <head> and </head>

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    4. Re:Gotta love it by Chelloveck · · Score: 1

      Headers? If Apple is smart they will have released multiple versions of the "don't leak stuff" memo with subtly different wording. Seeing which variant got leaked should narrow it down to a particular department or group.

      --
      Chelloveck
      I give up on debugging. From now on, SIGSEGV is a feature.
    5. Re:Gotta love it by Razed+By+TV · · Score: 1

      I was thinking of something similar, have a script that makes a subtle change to each copy of the memo. Double space after a word, changing or randomizing an inconsequential number, refer to a random non-existing company, refer to a random "proposed" feature that was never really proposed.

  10. Work elsewhere? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I thought industry wide blacklists were forbidden? This sounds pretty much like an admission of their existence. Also, this is about leakers; who else goes on the list?

    1. Re:Work elsewhere? by squiggleslash · · Score: 2

      They're not saying it's a blacklist, they're saying you're unlikely to get a job if the first thing potential employers get when they Google your name is a news article along the lines of "Former Apple employee convicted of selling company secrets, also fined $3,000 for three instances of copyright infringement in unrelated file sharing lawsuits brought by NBC Universal, Fox Studios, and Buttsex Video Inc, but sentencing postponed for unsolicited candid photos."

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    2. Re:Work elsewhere? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      apple does have a media blacklist to punish those that write the truth about apple.
      They can just re-purpose that one.

  11. Re:Competitive Response by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Apple could give users' files to the FBI, or sell access to detailed individual customer data to 3rd parties, but to our knowledge, they haven't. Facebook has sold such data to 3rd parties, it's pretty much their business model. Zuck deserves the shame he got, even from Cook

    --
    If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
  12. How about creating products worth leaking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Updated Mac Pro and Mac Mini. A MacBook Pro available in 17 inches and 32GB RAM. USB-A ports and headphone jacks all round. How about instead of trying to do ARM macs do Ryzen and Threadripper Macs.

  13. Why is this "news"? by Kenja · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Name a company that doesn't ask their employees to protect corporate secrets.

    --

    "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    1. Re:Why is this "news"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Beat me to it. We also have "quiet periods" which severely limit (as in better not to at all), say anything about what we do. Simple projects can be taken to mean different things, like dumping vendor x for y when in reality customer foo wants some integration. We may use the same sauce but I'll be damned if I tell you that.

      Then I remembered there are no secrets in the Left's "open society". Posting everything to Facebook or Linked in is encouraged.

    2. Re:Why is this "news"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      They all do. It is not news. Just a low level employee being snotty. I imagine Apple has a lot of low level know nothing employees.

      The real question is why would anyone leak info to the press? For kicks? The press is not your friend, they will misrepresent anything you say, they will twist facts to suit their ideology, and they will sell you out to your employer or the cops if pushed. They do not care about you.

    3. Re:Why is this "news"? by UnknowingFool · · Score: 1

      The irony is that someone probably thought they were leaking the memo for fun and will probably be fired because of it.

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    4. Re:Why is this "news"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We're in this era where everyone wants to pretend that they're the next great freedom fighter by airing big companies' random dirty laundry, motivated by pats on the back from the internet.

      But really it just makes you look like an ass, and also good chance that you're now informally blackballed for life from the tech industry.

    5. Re:Why is this "news"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's asking and then there's threatening with arrest, law suits, and blackballing. "Hey guys, please don't do this, it sucks and it hurts you, me, and the company" is a lot different from "we will find you, arrest you, sue you, and prevent you from finding a new job".

    6. Re:Why is this "news"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They probably didn't RTFM (Read the F Memo)

  14. The Fruit Has Gone Bad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As a former Apple diehard (been clean about 10 years now), I really can't believe what major league douche bags Apple has become. I only stopped using their computers because my university didn't support them on their network at the time, but between incredibly overpriced machines and devices, suing everyone under the sun and over matching them on lawyers, threatening and almost abusing employees on the regular, trying to intimidate everyone that has anything to do with them, making devices that are almost impossible to repair and then deliberately breaking third party repairs with software updates which seem to have no legitimate purpose and appear to only be pushed to break the repairs, spam dialing 911 from their repair centers and then not having any idea how to stop it, supporting terrorists (I'm all for protecting people's data and standing up to the man about it, but you lose your right to have your data shielded when you openly murder a room full of people), their general smugness about everything, and probably a few other things I'm missing, I am very glad that I haven't contributed a dime to them in the last decade. I think back to how awful M$ was in the '90s (and they're still not much better), and I feel like Apple has actually surpassed them in terms of shitty and abusive business practices. It would almost be impressive if it wasn't so horrifying.

    1. Re:The Fruit Has Gone Bad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Dont forget apples laughable "thermonuclear war" on Android; ebook price fixing; suing schools and grocery stores for using an apple in their logos; media blacklisting.

    2. Re:The Fruit Has Gone Bad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd add that they do something that looks a lot like tax evasion and international money laundering with their mega mountain of cash, though it's legalized and they're far from the only company that does it. But what's new, laws applying only to individuals and not mega corporations is par for the course and has been for a while.

    3. Re:The Fruit Has Gone Bad by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      I only stopped using their computers because my university didn't support them on their network at the time
      The brand of a computer does not matter when connected to a network ...
      Just saying.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    4. Re:The Fruit Has Gone Bad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not OP but I have had the same problem. IDK why but Macs would genuinely not work on my college computer network 15-20 years ago. We also still had to use floppy disks for some things.

    5. Re:The Fruit Has Gone Bad by Carewolf · · Score: 1

      I only stopped using their computers because my university didn't support them on their network at the time
      The brand of a computer does not matter when connected to a network ...
      Just saying.

      Back when Mac's still used AppleTalk they were banned on many networks. If you connected a Mac, the sysadmin would hunt you down and disconnect you.

      That's because AppleTalk is probably the worst local network protocol design of all time, with everything broadcast, and super linear blowup of overhad based on the number Macs connected, ruining the network efficiency for everybody

    6. Re:The Fruit Has Gone Bad by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      I worked in a cluster with about 100 Macs, and we had plenty of 20 - 30 Macs clusters. Never noticed any issues. I guess they had enough switches, on the other hand, I don't remember if we even used AppleTalk or where already using EtherTalk.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  15. Where is the blacklist? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anyone have a link so that you can check if you have been blacklisted from silicon valley lately? Inquiring minds want to know.

    1. Re:Where is the blacklist? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just apply for a job somewhere in Silicon Valley. Before you join these other people (remove the "a" to copy-paste) ahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDfZ5HmA6fs

  16. Re:Competitive Response by Anubis+IV · · Score: 3, Informative

    Apple doesn't claim to have decryption keys for everything that goes through iCloud, nor have they ever. Quite the contrary, in fact, since they explicitly state in their security white papers that they don't have the keys for much of it. For instance, iMessages, which go through iCloud, are end-to-end encrypted, with the sending device encrypting the message once for each receiving device. Likewise, FaceTime and many other services are end-to-end encrypted.

    There are some things that they can decrypt (e.g. iCloud Backup contents, documents stored in iCloud, etc.), but those are mostly the items actually being stored there, rather than merely passing through it.

  17. That must be why HomePod sales fell off by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 3, Funny

    After all, it can't possibly be due to the high price or to Siri's limitations.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  18. Re:Competitive Response by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The FBI couldn't trace their own ass if it was still attached to the roll of toilet paper, dragging it around the country.

    The FBI Computer Crime department is not permitted to touch any case unless it exceeds some fiscal threshold, and they play "pass the buck" with the Treasury and the Secret Service on fiscal crimes. The result is that *nothing* computer based actually gets prosecuted. They have a very pretty office at which eager young men work, but they aren't permitted to investigate anything. Reports go in, money goes in, paper to print reports on goes in: no convictions come out.

  19. Just Threadripper? EYPC as well by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    EPYC mac pro with 4 X16 slots. 4 m.2 slots 6 TB 3 buses and dual 10-gig-e can work.

    1. Re:Just Threadripper? EYPC as well by sexconker · · Score: 1

      But what will you do with the extra lanes?

      You get 128 total, and you're using 64 on PCIe slots, 16 on M.2, 12 on TB3 (Intel bottlenecks their shit by using only 2 lanes per port), and 4 on networking.

      You've got 32 left over, man.
      How about we just give you a couple dozen USB 3 ports and if you want SATA/SCSI/Floppy/Whatever you just buy some adapters?

    2. Re: Just Threadripper? EYPC as well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apple isn't even comptent to write drivers for enough different hardware to fill that big of a backplane.

  20. Recusion? by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1

    There you go! Just deserts for all those pointy haired bosses who kept giving recursion problems in job interviews.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    1. Re:Recusion? by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 2

      Just deserts

      Just desserts. The expression is more about chocolate cake than the Sahara....

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
  21. Are these people demented? by gweihir · · Score: 1

    Have they hired from kindergarden or what?

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    1. Re:Are these people demented? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Could be, apple seems ok with child and slave labor in China

  22. Dammit guys we just talked about this! by dont_jack_the_mac · · Score: 1

    Someone leaked a memo telling them to stop leaking internal news.

  23. Apple ought to meet with Kim Jong-Un by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The management of Apple and North Korea have a LOT in common.

  24. lel by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A) Definitely not the world's largest tech company.

    B) LMAO sometimes these headlines make me think I'm on the onion.

    C) Not even news except to laugh at the headline.

  25. Yo Dawg! by Subm · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yo Dawg, I heard you liked leaking memos, so I leaked a memo about leaking memos so you could leak memos while you leak memos.

    1. Re:Yo Dawg! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's an older meme sir, but it checks out.

  26. It appears that..... by 8127972 · · Score: 0

    Kommandant Trump isn't the only person who has problems with leakers.

    --
    This is my opinion. To make sure you don't steal it, it's covered by the DMCA.
    1. Re:It appears that..... by PPH · · Score: 1

      But these aren't in a Moscow hotel room.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    2. Re:It appears that..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      peeing on each other

    3. Re:It appears that..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are shots for that kind of leaking. They take a few weeks for all the sores to go away.

  27. this is just a link to apple pr by shampster · · Score: 1

    PR disguised as a news article.

    --
    aXV1cTswMDR5dS9wc2gwYnFxew
  28. Re:Competitive Response by UnknowingFool · · Score: 3, Informative

    Except Apple has never claimed anything like that. The FBI claimed that. Apple can grant access to user's iCloud account given a warrant; however, the problem is that data on the phone is encrypted using device level keys that Apple does not have access nor ability to get.

    In the San Bernandino case, the FBI wanted data off the phone. So Apple advised that they should allow the iPhone to automatically sync up and backup tothe iCloud account. Instead the FBI instructed the police to reset the password which then locked Apple and the FBI out of the phone's data.

    --
    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  29. face extreme difficulty finding employment by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Don't these individuals have a right to be forgotten?

  30. Best Headline Ever! by jetkust · · Score: 1

    Sounds like it came from the Onion!

  31. Not going to happen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When I was working at an Apple reseller, i found out about the Intel change because the Apple tech was showing off to a girl he liked. She told me. This was at least 3 months before launch

    Also, wtf did they get arrested for? This is a civil matter. I call bs on this. Also, nobody cares anyway

    1. Re:Not going to happen by tsqr · · Score: 1

      Also, wtf did they get arrested for? This is a civil matter.

      Stealing trade secrets (and yes, revealing them to unauthorized persons constitutes stealing) is a Federal crime. No, not all the leaks involved trade secrets. Apparently 12 cases did. But you'd know all this if you'd bothered to RTFA (yeah, I know).

  32. Yo Dawg! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Yo dawg, I heard you like to leak memos when you leak memos so hereâ(TM)s a leaked memo!

  33. Meanwhile by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The poor sap that leaked this just lost his job

    1. Re:Meanwhile by datavirtue · · Score: 1

      There are more jobs.

      --
      I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
  34. Verry interesting. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Magic Leap
    Sony Playstation
    The govt.
    WTF..
    Apple, Get over yourselves.
    If you dont want people to leak your bright new shiny stuff. Get the fuck out the market place where you have to do this type of shit..
    if you have to enforce stoopid shit quit putting yourselves into a position having to do that..
    It's not like your producing govt. grade equipment.
    This seems more like a ploy to cultivate mystique. Drum up business, beef up the attraction for future slaves or drones, oops I mean "future employees/talent"

  35. clear indicator by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have heard, they seperate the employees from the contractors
    if you have an office your monitor cannot face the window.
    If you say dont leak this, it gets leaked
    What sort of trust factors are you relying on?
    It sounds by default Dumb..
    I would have to agree, this seems like a ploy, a scheme, or portrayal from a bad actor to cultivate mystique, in a feeble attempt to draw talent to fix their apparent mistakes with SIRI, etc..
    Apple is not attracting talent any more, people know there is no value there, nothing to see but a bunch of suite and ties looking to perpetuate their revenue streams so they themselves dont have to do any work..

     

  36. Re:Competitive Response by datavirtue · · Score: 1

    That's fine. The FBI would just sit on it and forget about it. I think every major terrorist attack had either the FBI following the asshole or it knew about them and didn't really do anything. Of course they have all the information so they get to swoop in and look legitimate in front of the camera. FBI gotta go. Reset.

    --
    I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
  37. Re: Trump Eunuchs celebrate leaking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Vile Trump Eunuch.

  38. you cant fix Stoopid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  39. Re:Competitive Response by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    iMessages, which go through iCloud, are end-to-end encrypted, with the sending device encrypting
    WTF, has no one any clue anymore?

    The "establishing of the connection", the "online status" that is what goes via iCloud.

    As soon as the two parties are connected all traffic goes over "the internet" ... no secret iCloud middle man involved. What would be the point of that?

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  40. Leak FBI memos, get a book deal. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Leak an Apple memo, go to jail.

    Tim Cook for el presidente!

  41. Re:Competitive Response by Anubis+IV · · Score: 2

    WTF, has no one any clue anymore?

    The "establishing of the connection", the "online status" that is what goes via iCloud.

    As soon as the two parties are connected all traffic goes over "the internet" ... no secret iCloud middle man involved. What would be the point of that?

    Despite seemingly being on "my side" in this, it's worth pointing out that iMessages are a form of asynchronous communication akin to text messages, so the two (or many more) devices don't actually connect to each other via the Internet in the way that you suggest. Moreover, iCloud actually is involved as a sort of middle man in the sending of each and every message (though it isn't privy to the contents of those messages), since in addition to being the pipe through which iMessages are sent, iCloud is also what Apple uses as their key exchange mechanism for the end-to-end encryption in iMessages.

    For example, in the case that someone wants to send me an iMessage, their device needs to encrypt a copy for every single device I've registered with Apple. But how does their device know what key(s) to use? And how will the message reach my devices that aren't online right now? The answer is that iCloud provides the sender with the public key for each of my registered devices, allowing them to encrypt the message in such a way that only my device(s) can decrypt the message, and then iCloud holds onto those messages until each of my devices checks in. It's a secure way of doing things...

    [Lengthy aside: It's theoretically possible for Apple to create a tool for evil that allows them to inject a device into your list of registered devices, thus allowing them to read every iMessage you receive (from then on). They would also need to suppress existing behavior in iOS, since iOS currently notifies you of new devices added to your account and gives you an opportunity to revoke their access. That said, the creation of such tools is in no way in Apple's best interests. Federal wiretapping laws prohibit law enforcement agencies at all levels of government from demanding that manufacturers create new tools to access communications, but the law also allows law enforcement to demand that manufacturers make use of existing systems to tap communications, the use of which would almost certainly undermine consumer trust in Apple's devices should it ever come to light. That's a large part of why Apple pushed back against the FBI a few years ago, since Apple knew that the moment they crossed that line there'd be no going back. Pandora's Box would have been open.]
     
    ...that is simple enough to be used by the masses.

    In contrast, end-to-end encrypted systems that are aimed at people with significant security concerns (e.g. whistleblowers, people in oppressive states, etc.) are anything but simple to use, since they rely on implementing their key exchange mechanism via off-platform channels (e.g. users have to physically meet in person or send their public keys via some other trusted system). For those sorts of systems, it isn't possible for a middle man to inject their own devices into the conversation like that, but users are still either having to put their mutual trust in some other system for key exchange or else must engage in the arduous practice of being in physical proximity to each and every person/device with which they want to communicate before being able to communicate.

    All of which is to say, iMessages are end-to-end encrypted, but iCloud still plays a vital role in sending them. It isn't just there to facilitate a connection between two devices.

  42. Re:Competitive Response by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    Yes, for text messages that makes sense.
    However a video call would not go via iCloud, or a voice call.

    On the other hand signal based apps (the software "signal") go all via a central server. I believe same for telegram.

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  43. windbag dilettante metamorphmagi by epine · · Score: 1

    The Cupertino, California-based company said in a lengthy memo ...

    Whoever wrote that sentence can be trusted on the subject of long memos.

    A windbag dilettante would have merely written "Apple".