Extreme secrecy: how Apple devices guard

On October 4, at 21:00 Moscow time, a press conference will be held at Apple headquarters, where the new CEO of Tim Cook will hold a presentation of the iPhone 5. Now there are about 30 hours left before this event, but there is still no hint of information leaks on the Web, unless the photograph of the invitation card is published (above).

Given the huge interest of the public, probably thousands of journalists are struggling to get information. To protect information in such conditions, we need completely non-trivial measures from the arsenal of the special services. Extreme secrecy is one of Apple’s basic marketing principles. Even the device security methods themselves are protected by the NDA, so employees are not allowed to talk about them.

However, in the past year, some conditions NDA still leaked to the press . It became known what requirements Apple put forward to its partners to preserve the secrecy of the first iPad: each device should be stored in an isolated room with darkened windows and must be firmly tied to a fixed object to prevent theft. The entire text of the NDA with the storage conditions of the device took 10 pages. We are talking about the first batch of devices that were sent to partners and developers after the presentation of Steve Jobs on January 27, but before the start of sales on April 3.
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Of course, even more stringent rules should be applied before the presentations of iPhone 5. The company must have a guarantee that each of us will see the long-awaited novelty for the first time in Tim Cook’s hand, and nothing else.

It is known that every year Apple complements the terms of the NDA, so the rules of secrecy are becoming more stringent. For example, now before the start of sales, developers are prohibited from reporting even the fact of using the device.

Fast Company journalists talked with one of the managers of the company, one of the first to receive a copy of the iPad after the presentation. The device was brought on a private plane. Only some of the top managers of the company knew about the fact of cargo arrival, and even the company's CEO was not aware of when this would happen. Among the favorites, besides top managers, were several developers. Apple demanded a list of the names and social security numbers of these people. Each of them was forbidden to talk about the device to anyone, including family members and colleagues.

The prototype itself could only be stored in a room without windows or with darkened windows, the door to which was equipped with a modern lock with two keys: one was given to Apple, the second was the director of the company. The device itself, tightly tied to the table in the room, was packed in a black plastic case, which made it impossible to make high-quality photography (recall, we are talking about the device after its official presentation).

After fixing the device, Apple employees took a picture for security. Subsequently, if some photo floated on the Internet, then Apple could calculate the offender on the texture of the surface of the table.