Using obscured urls and trust in your fella man is a very poor security setup. Tim needs to double-down on that for the next big release.
It does seem like weak security that this employee was able to take make some IPSWs available to the internet with a very suspicious URL without any checks and balances. This issue plus the accidental, temporary release of the HomePod firmware perhaps Apple needs to set up a "two-man rule" system. They clearly can afford do it, but I'm not sure they can't afford to since both of these leaks may have made this week's announcements offer very little in the way of details for the presenters.
What's dumb is that the firmware was available to be downloaded by anyone who had the URL. It should've required authentication.
It's also possible that the person responsible uploaded the files to this location and then shared its URL. It may not have been an official download location at all. The key is that they used Apple servers, not some third-party server or BitTorrent. So your point remains... an opportunity to secure Apple's servers. I doubt that Apple would've deliberately uploaded such mission-critical files in a publicly-accessible location.
I don’t know how anyone can say this leak is not a big deal. My god we know pretty much everything about this new phone except how Phil Schiller will present it on stage. It has to be incredibly deflating for the executive team and all the employees who worked on these products to know very little will actually be a surprise. And especially knowing it was a fellow employee who ruined the surprise. I hope they find out who it was and promptly fire his/her ass.
I think there is still a lot to be learnt. The team will be deflated but this risk is ever present. You have to live with it and accept that these things happen or just not try to make secrecy a big thing from the outset.
Tuesday will fill in a lot of gaps and lift all of the question marks hanging over the leaks. It will still be interesting. Very interesting
With what we have received via rumours, very little of the actual leaks would have had a wow factor anyway and if there are some 'wows' we can say Apple had some degree of success.
I think there is still a lot to be learnt. The team will be deflated but this risk is ever present. You have to live with it and accept that these things happen or just not try to make secrecy a big thing from the outset.
Tuesday will fill in a lot of gaps and lift all of the question marks hanging over the leaks. It will still be interesting. Very interesting
With what we have received via rumours, very little of the actual leaks would have had a wow factor anyway and if there are some 'wows' we can say Apple had some degree of success.
I agree...I think there's a lot of unanswered questions still. These leaks don't explain the entire story. Yes, it gives away some big topics, but the entire story isn't there for any of Apple's announcements.
Its not as doom and gloom as some like to make this out to be. Does it suck for Apple, absolutely! What I feel for the most is the employees that worked their asses off to get these products ready to go out the door and then some asshat just leaks everything they've been working on for the past couple years. That's who I feel for the most. Its not fair to them.
That being said, does it completely ruin their Keynote Address? No, not at all. This should still be a special Keynote for Apple, and an important one.
I think there is still a lot to be learnt. The team will be deflated but this risk is ever present. You have to live with it and accept that these things happen or just not try to make secrecy a big thing from the outset.
Tuesday will fill in a lot of gaps and lift all of the question marks hanging over the leaks. It will still be interesting. Very interesting
With what we have received via rumours, very little of the actual leaks would have had a wow factor anyway and if there are some 'wows' we can say Apple had some degree of success.
I agree...I think there's a lot of unanswered questions still. These leaks don't explain the entire story. Yes, it gives away some big topics, but the entire story isn't there for any of Apple's announcements.
Its not as doom and gloom as some like to make this out to be. Does it suck for Apple, absolutely! What I feel for the most is the employees that worked their asses off to get these products ready to go out the door and then some asshat just leaks everything they've been working on for the past couple years. That's who I feel for the most. Its not fair to them.
That being said, does it completely ruin their Keynote Address? No, not at all. This should still be a special Keynote for Apple, and an important one.
Agreed completely with both of you. There are still millions of iPhone buyers who do not read all these rumors/leaks. Even from that perspective, this is an important keynote. I also agree that ALL details are NOT available, as some people make it out to be. There are still LOT of details to be made available which will be clear ONLY after the keynote presentation. This is the most anticipated keynote event, in a long long time. No amount of rumors (even genuine leaks) can deflate the enthusiasm for this one.
I don’t know how anyone can say this leak is not a big deal. My god we know pretty much everything about this new phone except how Phil Schiller will present it on stage.
I guess what I'm not understanding is why this is such a big deal. The info isn't much different than what any of us had thought would be announced for months now. And, knowing a few days early doesn't give the competition time to do much of anything to respond (that they wouldn't already know from the general rumor mill).
macxpress said: That being said, does it completely ruin their Keynote Address? No, not at all. This should still be a special Keynote for Apple, and an important one.
Why is this one so special? Other than being at the new campus/theatre, it seems like a routine iPhone update. If they are doing something special for the anniversary, it's still a surprise, as I don't see anything special about what was leaked.
Well, leak or not, I'm still very much excited about tomorrow's keynote. We know most of what's coming before every one anyhow and I still seem to enjoy each one. And who knows, there could still be a "one more thing" moment coming tomorrow that wasn't spoiled by any software leaks.
I am going to go the other way and say this was deliberate on Apple's part. As stated above, most of what was gleaned from the "GM", assuming its really the "GM", is confirming most of the rumors. There is a whole slew of products here and Apple typically doesn't devote time to this many things at the event anyway. Another way to look at this is that the "leak" reduces the need to discuss these aspects and maybe devote more time for features, use scenarios, etc that have yet to be uncovered or discussed.
toddimt said: Another way to look at this is that the "leak" reduces the need to discuss these aspects and maybe devote more time for features, use scenarios, etc that have yet to be uncovered or discussed.
Leaves room for a 45 minute special demo of aniemojis.
if its a disgruntled employee it might be someone who was basically already fired. not such much in the walk of shame style but perhaps the "we don't see a reason to renew your contract" type. or someone who didn't get the raise/promotion he/she wanted and decided to walk. but not before a parting blow
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It's also possible that the person responsible uploaded the files to this location and then shared its URL. It may not have been an official download location at all. The key is that they used Apple servers, not some third-party server or BitTorrent. So your point remains... an opportunity to secure Apple's servers. I doubt that Apple would've deliberately uploaded such mission-critical files in a publicly-accessible location.
He really loved tech surprises and his famous, "Oh, and one more thing..."
Tuesday will fill in a lot of gaps and lift all of the question marks hanging over the leaks. It will still be interesting. Very interesting
With what we have received via rumours, very little of the actual leaks would have had a wow factor anyway and if there are some 'wows' we can say Apple had some degree of success.
Its not as doom and gloom as some like to make this out to be. Does it suck for Apple, absolutely! What I feel for the most is the employees that worked their asses off to get these products ready to go out the door and then some asshat just leaks everything they've been working on for the past couple years. That's who I feel for the most. Its not fair to them.
That being said, does it completely ruin their Keynote Address? No, not at all. This should still be a special Keynote for Apple, and an important one.
Agreed completely with both of you. There are still millions of iPhone buyers who do not read all these rumors/leaks. Even from that perspective, this is an important keynote. I also agree that ALL details are NOT available, as some people make it out to be. There are still LOT of details to be made available which will be clear ONLY after the keynote presentation. This is the most anticipated keynote event, in a long long time. No amount of rumors (even genuine leaks) can deflate the enthusiasm for this one.
Why is this one so special? Other than being at the new campus/theatre, it seems like a routine iPhone update. If they are doing something special for the anniversary, it's still a surprise, as I don't see anything special about what was leaked.