Low-level Apple intern stole the iOS 9 source code that ended up on GitHub
Just a couple of days ago, we told you about the leak that has been called the biggest in Apple history. The source code for Apple's iBoot program was posted on GitHub for all the world to see. And even though this particular version was from iOS 9, it still might provide hackers with some useful information that can be used to decrypt an iPhone and create more havoc for the iOS faithful.
So who was behind the leak? Was it a recently fired executive looking for payback? A computer genius who hacked through layers of security to get the old code? Or was it a shrewd Wall Street short seller, who expected the stock to tank when the news got out. Actually, it seems that it was none of the above. While working in Cupertino back in 2016, a low-level intern helped himself to code at the behest of his friends, who were members of the jailbreaking community. They wanted the code to help them with their research. According to Motherboard, the intern grabbed additional source code and file names. As one of the five said, the intern stole "all sorts of Apple internal tools and whatnot."
Apple says that it knew the source code had been missing even before it was posted on GitHub. A spokesman confirmed Apple's "What me worry?" attitude with his comment. "The security of our products doesn’t depend on the secrecy of our source code," he said.
source: Motherboard
The original group that received the stolen code wasn't supposed to share it, and the code was supposed to stay with the original five members. But as time went on, members shared it with others, and the group lost control of the code's distribution. Someone who was not one of the original recipients of the code decided to post it on GitHub. As it turns out, what did make it to the software development platform was not the entire leak; One member of the original group of five noted, "What leaked (the other day) isn't even the full leak really. It’s not the original leak—it’s a copy."
"I was really paranoid about it getting leaked immediately by one of us," one of the original people to receive the code told me. "Having the iBoot source code and not being inside Apple...that's unheard of."-Member of the original group that received the iBoot source code
Apple says that it knew the source code had been missing even before it was posted on GitHub. A spokesman confirmed Apple's "What me worry?" attitude with his comment. "The security of our products doesn’t depend on the secrecy of our source code," he said.
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