Apple filed a lawsuit earlier this month in opposition to former software program engineer Andrew Aude, alleging he leaked data about merchandise he wished to “kill” to a journalist saved in his telephone as “Homeboy.” The key initiatives included Apple’s new Journal app and the Imaginative and prescient Professional, first reported by MacRumors Thursday.
The previous Apple software program engineer shared over 1,400 Sign messages with “Homeboy,” Aude’s secret identify for a Wall Road Journal reporter, in accordance with filings. Apple alleges Aude leaked Apple’s journaling app in April 2023 to the Wall Road Journal as a result of he wished the challenge “killed.” Aaron Tilley printed a WSJ article on the app at the moment. Aude additionally shared “over 10,000 textual content messages” with a journalist from The Info.
This was all performed on Aude’s company-issued iPhone. Aude is accused of breaking the corporate’s confidentiality settlement, and Apple seeks $25,000 in damages.
At one level, Aude referred to his leaking of data as a “mandatory evil” and that he eagerly anticipated the “chaos” that may ensue. He hoped his actions would trigger a stir earlier than “Apple’s company folks even awoke.” Apple alleges Aude was malicious and willful in what merchandise he leaked.
Aude additionally leaked particulars concerning the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional again in Oct. 2020, regardless of Apple. In Aug. 2021, the software program engineer confirmed rumors a couple of design characteristic of an unreleased Apple machine, noting that it was “one in every of Apple’s greatest secret options.”
Aude received caught in Nov. 2023, when a supervisor requested him if he’d been leaking data to journalists. He denied the accusation after which ran to the toilet to delete a lot of his proof, in accordance with the courtroom submitting. A month later, Aude admitted that he leaked tons of data from Apple, and he was fired in December.
Apple claims that every one of Aude’s leaks had been purposeful and the software program engineer nonetheless poses a menace to the corporate, despite the fact that he not works there. Apple says his historical past of leaking data and his deep data of firm secrets and techniques make him an ongoing safety danger.
Apple is topic to lots of leaks, partially as a result of the corporate has so many secret initiatives. The corporate sued and imprisoned a former engineer for stealing Apple’s driverless automobile know-how. In that case, the FBI was pressured to get entangled to cease a person from fleeing with commerce secrets and techniques to China.