As reported lasts week, Apple alleges Andrew Aude, a former software engineer, leaked secrets about various initiatives, including Apple’s Journal app and the Vision Pro device, through his company-issued iPhone. This information was reportedly shared with journalists and personnel at rival technology corporations over five years.
Dennis Dayman, CISO of Code42, a data protection company, shared this quote with Apple World Today regarding the article: While every security team is familiar with addressing external threats, insider threat presents a new, more insidious challenge that’s on the rise. In fact, we’ve seen a 28% increase in insider-driven data exposure, loss, leak, and theft events since 2021.
The news of Apple taking legal action against a former employee highlights the inherent data risks associated with human behavior and that insiders can – and sometimes do – become a threat and cause harm to the business. Employees are trusted to handle critical data daily, and the theft of intellectual property has a significant impact on businesses. Code42’s research has revealed that a single insider-driven data exposure, loss, leak, or theft event could cost companies $15 million in financial losses.
Incidents like this serve as a wake-up call for organizations to adopt thorough data protection strategies to ensure confidential information remains confidential.”
