Apple says former employee exploited ‘rare’ bug to download confidential files after leaving for OpenAI; plus, Sam Altman’s space data center trash talk is what most experts already believe
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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On Friday, Apple dropped a bombshell that it was suing OpenAI over the alleged theft of trade secrets, claiming that OpenAI stole Apple's confidential data and engaged in efforts to learn proprietary information while recruiting former Apple employees.
What did Apple allege in its lawsuit against OpenAI and a former employee?
In accusing OpenAI of stealing secrets about Apple's unreleased products, Apple revealed that a former employee allegedly siphoned reams of sensitive files from the company's shared network folders weeks after leaving Apple for a job at OpenAI. In its complaint, Apple says the former employee, a system electrical engineer named Chang Liu, allegedly exploited a rare, previously unknown authentication bug that allowed access to the company's network.
How did the former Apple employee allegedly exploit a ‘rare’ authentication bug?
The bug is classified as a zero-day vulnerability, meaning that Apple had no time to fix it before it was allegedly exploited. Apple has since fixed the bug and said it terminated the employee's access once it learned of this security breach. In its complaint, Apple said the bug could have allowed a few other people to access data on its network, but alleged that only Liu exploited the bug to steal Apple's confidential information while no longer an employee, citing a check of its server logs. The disclosure, while light in detail, highlights the challenges that organizations face with protecting sensitive corporate data after employees no longer work there. Companies often move to immediately cut off departing staff from further access to protect any sensitive information from leaving, including inadvertently.
Companies that fail to fully decommission their employees' accounts can face future security lapses, data breaches, or malicious actions by disgruntled staff. Apple did not respond to an email from TechCrunch with questions about the security vulnerability, how it was exploited, or when the company decommissioned the employees' credentials. In the complaint, Apple alleged that Liu took dozens of Apple's confidential hardware-related files over the course of several weeks while as a new OpenAI employee.
What types of confidential Apple files were reportedly downloaded and how long did access continue after departure?
Apple said the files contained detailed information about unreleased products engineering presentations technical specifications and proprietary project data. The company claims Liu failed to return the Apple-issued work laptop he had previously used to access Apple's network, suggesting it was once able to send and receive files from Apple's internal systems. The complaint said that Liu allegedly claimed to have another computer. While he was at OpenAI, Liu also allegedly misused the access of an acquaintance, Yuting Peng, a then-Apple employee who later went to work for OpenAI. Liu allegedly used Peng's Apple-issued work laptop while she was still employed at Apple, and he was not. Apple said that during February of this year, Liu tried to access Apple's network storage, a cloud-based file repository containing Apple's confidential engineering files, project documentation, and other proprietary information.
Liu had allegedly discovered that he still could access Apple's network repository after leaving Apple, the result of a then-unknown authentication vulnerability. Apple did not describe the authentication bug that Liu allegedly used to access Apple's network But authentication bugs generally refer to flaws in the login process that allow improper access to systems or data, either because of a weakness in how the login mechanism works or due to a misconfiguration, such as overbroad permissions and not decommissioning the login credentials of a former employee. Apple wrote in its complaint that when Liu learned he had unauthorized access to Apple's systems, he did not report the bug to Apple under his employment agreement obligations, nor did he return his Apple-issued work laptop.
The complaint added that Liu also failed to delete the program that allowed the access to Apple's network.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:02–1:02
2
What did Apple allege in its lawsuit against OpenAI and a former employee?
1:02–1:34
3
How did the former Apple employee allegedly exploit a ‘rare’ authentication bug?
1:34–3:00
4
What types of confidential Apple files were reportedly downloaded and how long did access continue after departure?
3:00–5:02
5
How did Apple describe its response and investigation into the security breach?
5:02–5:45
6
What sparked the social media spat between Sam Altman and Elon Musk about space data centers?
5:45–6:32
7
Why do experts doubt space-based data centers will be economical soon and what timeline is realistic?
6:32–8:48
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from TechCrunch Industry News
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