secrecy

If there were any doubts that Apple CEO Tim Cook was a stickler for secrecy -- and frankly there haven't been -- he put those to bed tonight.

During a live interview at the D10 conference, which kicked off tonight in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Cook was asked about whether Apple would be less secret under his leadership.

"We're going to double down on secrecy on products," he told interviewers Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg. Cook was also asked about buying companies. "We buy companies. We don't like to make it public. It depends … Read more

I know that people like to laugh at Apple's rather paranoid sense of security.

This is principally because people like to laugh and because Apple's sense of security is a fine source of laughter. You know, in a "Dr. Strangelove" kind of way.

So I am delighted beyond secrecy to tell you that on Tuesday the company received approval from the Cupertino Planning Commission to build a restaurant not far from the Apple campus -- a restaurant (or some would say cafeteria) that will be for staff only.

I am grateful to The Next Web for … Read more

Apple is a place so secret that employees even have trouble hanging out with one another after hours.

That's one of the key takeaways from a newly-published excerpt of "Inside Apple: How America's Most Admired--and Secretive--Company Really Works," the upcoming book from Fortune's Adam Lashinsky.

The lengthy read, which you can find here, provides a broad overview of what it's like to work for the company, including minute details about Apple's on-boarding process for new employees. However the most interesting tidbits revolve around the extent of Apple's secrecy with both its personnel … Read more

In the latest build of iOS 5.1, now beta 2, Apple has finally decided to take steps against the popular rumor site tactic of rifling through iOS code to find references to new hardware models.

These references, typically something like iPhone3,1, were a great way for rumor sites to predict forthcoming hardware devices, accurately assuming that their inclusion in the iOS code meant they were being tested.

With Apple's release of iOS 5.1 beta 2, things have changed. Apple has now included device references for dozens of new devices including AppleTV10,3 and iPhone11,3. By … Read more

Google is strengthening the encryption on Gmail and other services so that messages stored today can't easily be decrypted later by faster computers using brute force methods.

The company is enabling what is called "forward secrecy" by default, Adam Langley from Google's security team, wrote in a blog post yesterday.

"Most major sites supporting HTTPS operate in a non-forward secret fashion, which runs the risk of retrospective decryption. In other words, an encrypted, unreadable email could be recorded while being delivered to your computer today," he wrote. "In ten years time, when computers … Read more

Some people like to be secretive. Then there's the CIA. Then there's Apple.

I have just been moved to watery eyes by a touching tale of Apple's keenness for covert activities, reportedly told by the unnamed developer of "a very successful iPad app."

As whispered to Business Insider, this developer wanted an iPad as soon as he could get one.

He claims that he was "probably the sixth person" to have his hands on the new, new thing. He accompanied three other developers to a dungeon in Cupertino, Calif., where a sample of … Read more

WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange was granted bail today by a London judge, but prosecutors said they will appeal the decision.

In a media-mobbed hearing today, a U.K. judge decided to release Assange on bail of 200,000 pounds, or about $317,000, on the condition that he surrender his passport, wear an electronic tracker, provide a U.K. address, and report to police daily.

U.K. prosecutors, acting on behalf of the Swedish government, told the court that they will file a formal appeal within 48 hours. This follows some confusion about whether an appeal will take place, with … Read more

While on vacation in San Francisco last week, my family and I happened to stop by the Apple Store in Union Square. The buzz within was overwhelming--foreign tourists looking for cheap iPods, college students grabbing MacBooks, and business folks lining up for the 3G iPhones.

All of this activity isn't lost on large organizations. It seems that Apple is sitting pretty, ready for a backdoor entrance into the enterprise market with Macs and iPhones over the next few years.

The market certainly appears headed in this direction, but ironically, Apple may be its own worst enemy. Why? With its … Read more