An internal memo to Apple employees, warning them about the consequences of leaking information, has ironically been leaked. According to a report by Bloomberg, the memo warns employees about leaking internal information, and brings up the possibility not just termination from the company, but also criminal charges.
The memo posted by Bloomberg states, “Last month, Apple caught and fired the employee responsible for leaking details from an internal, confidential meeting about Apple’s software roadmap. Hundreds of software engineers were in attendance, and thousands more within the organization received details of its proceedings. One person betrayed their trust. The employee who leaked the meeting to a reporter later told Apple investigators that he did it because he thought he wouldn’t be discovered. But people who leak — whether they’re Apple employees, contractors or suppliers — do get caught and they’re getting caught faster than ever.”
The memo goes on to state that in 2017, the company caught 28 leakers, out of which 12 were arrested. It adds that these leakers included Apple employees, contractors and some partners in Apple’s supply chain. The memo also talks about the impact of leaks on the company. It states that leaked information can negatively impact sales of the current model and give rivals more time to work on a competitive response.
The memo comes a couple of months after someone posted the source code of one of the essential components of iOS on GitHub. Apple later confirmed that the code is from iOS, but was part of an old software version, iOS 9. However, reports suggested that parts of the code were still used in iOS 11.