Internal Investigation on Fake Apple Email

[MacRumors]

In the wake of the fake iPhone and Leopard delay rumor that hit the web on May 16th, there's been a number of stories and claims regarding the events.

Engadget posted their sequence of events, which involved the fake email sent through an internal Apple distribution list to employees indicating that the iPhone and Leopard would be delayed. A couple of hours later, Apple sent out a followup memo stating that the previous memo was fake.

From what we've heard, the sequence of events described is accurate. A fake email was indeed sent to an internal email Apple distribution list as described. The source of the fake email is unknown, but an internal investigation has been launched at Apple to seek out this individual. There is speculation that the author of the email was an ex-Apple employee.

 

[Peace]

If an ex employee did indeed do that.That person can wind up in jail I believe.

 

[GanleyBurger]

N.n.h.

.

No

New

Hardware



Does this mean Apple was hacked???

 

[DMann]

Practical Joke?

Surely, the individual used an untraceable e-mail (re-mailer) service to propogate this fabrication.....

 

[notsofatjames]

Surely, the individual used an untraceable e-mail (re-mailer) service to propogate this fabrication.....

theyd be silly not to!

 

[72930]

On the positive side, I don't have any AAPL stock with a $104 auto-sell, but on the negative side, I don't have any AAPL stock

 

[Clive At Five]

As an non-share-holder, I find this ordeal somewhat amusing.

-Clive

 

[SC68Cal]

Why isn't an internal investigation launched at EDIT:Engadget (sorry Gizmodo) and also MR, as to why chicken little was allowed to post these unsubstantiated claims with no verification. Hmm?

 

[FX120]

If an ex employee did indeed do that.That person can wind up in jail I believe.

Probably not unless they used the price drop to their benifit...

 

[ibook30]

Why isn't an internal investigation launched at Gizmodo and also MR, as to why chicken little was allowed to post these unsubstantiated claims with no verification. Hmm?

MR is a rumor site, so some things on the site, might be rumors,,, I know you spent a lot of time complaining about unsubstantiated claims,, but I find them to be unsubstantiated complaints.

Interesting way for Apple to find a security leak, and probably lower morale at the same time. If I were an employee - I think I'd feel a bit put out.

 

[yzp]

If an ex employee did indeed do that.That person can wind up in jail I believe.

I hope for his/her to be an ex's........

 

[jk8311]

Personally, when this happened I was PSYCHED! I don't think I was the only one who thought "Wow - this sounds fake to me...". So I went ahead and simply bought more options when it tanked for those 15 minutes until Apple clarified the story.

Forget Apple stock - it's the options you want.

 

[mcarnes]

That Steve Ballmer, always playing jokes.

 

[SilentPanda]

Why isn't an internal investigation launched at Gizmodo and also MR, as to why chicken little was allowed to post these unsubstantiated claims with no verification. Hmm?

Because it was substantiated and verified? As far as anybody knew at the time, including Apple employees, the e-mail was indeed real. The only way they could have known it was fake was to use a time machine to bring themselves to the future.

 

[kwood]

That Steve Ballmer, always playing jokes.

Something tells me that if that were true Jobs would not be very happy at all.

 

[irmongoose]

There seems to be a "Casino Royale"- esque stock market rigging operation going on. I wouldn't be surprised if this investigation led to a revelation of a larger group of frauds.



irmongoose

 

[dartzorichalcos]

At first I thought that email was real but good thing it's fake. Somebody is going to be yelled at and maybe fined for this email.

 

[SC68Cal]

Because it was substantiated and verified? As far as anybody knew at the time, including Apple employees, the e-mail was indeed real. The only way they could have known it was fake was to use a time machine to bring themselves to the future.

The time between when the story was first posted, to when it was revealed to be a fake was less than half an hour after MR first posted the story.

About an hour and 40 minutes after the initial memo went out, a second memo was sent to the same internal Apple lists, dismissing the first. Soon after, our source -- who we'd been in contact with through the morning -- let us know that Apple was dismissing this earlier email; the second memo passed off the first as "fake" and "not from Apple". Fake indeed, but it still came from someone familiar with Apple's internal mail systems, lists, memo composition structure, etc., who found a way to plant a phony memo in the inboxes of who knows how many Apple employees. (Both emails are published in the original post.) Why Apple took nearly two hours to respond to the situation we do not know.

Endgadget doesn't get off easy from me either. Two hours between the first memo and the rebuttal? If this had been a responsible journalist, rather than a hack, this would have never been printed, because he wouldn't have been falling all over himself to post the story! TWO HOURS

Hello? Is anyone here a journalism major in here? Does this strike you as a bit odd? Unusual?

Stop drinking the Kool-Aid people!

 

[shamino]

Why isn't an internal investigation launched at Gizmodo and also MR, as to why chicken little was allowed to post these unsubstantiated claims with no verification. Hmm?

Maybe because nobody cares whether a rumor site posts rumors that turn out to be false? Unlike a corporation's internal announcement mailing list, which has a presumption of being correct.

It's not like a rumor site has the ability to verify information that, by its nature, does not have an official source. (Of course, in this specific example, the rumor claimed to be an official PR, which could have been validated.)

 

[SC68Cal]

Maybe because nobody cares whether a rumor site posts rumors that turn out to be false? Unlike a corporation's internal announcement mailing list, which has a presumption of being correct.

It's not like a rumor site has the ability to verify information that, by its nature, does not have an official source. (Of course, in this specific example, the rumor claimed to be an official PR, which could have been validated.)

Tell that to Apple shareholders. I'm sure you'd be singing a different tune if your stock took a plunge like that.

 

[kalisphoenix]

Tell that to Apple shareholders. I'm sure you'd be singing a different tune if your stock took a plunge like that.

One of the principal reasons I don't put all (or even two) of my eggs in one basket.

 

[epochblue]

Why isn't an internal investigation launched at Gizmodo and also MR, as to why chicken little was allowed to post these unsubstantiated claims with no verification. Hmm?

Because neither Gizmodo nor MR broke the news. Engadget did. Not to mention, Engadget TRIED to get verification, but was snubbed by Apple PR, and in a time where breaking this kind of news first is a BIG deal, I would have run with it too.

Sent from an Apple employee who got that e-mail from their internal system...went out to a lot of the employees...sound legit to me.

 

[aricher]

an internal investigation has been launched at Apple to seek out this individual.

And then Steve will personally break his/her kneecaps.

 

[SC68Cal]

Either way, I think my point is this.

To all parties involved:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journalism_ethics

 

[AgingGeek]

"Someone is attempting to access an internal mail list from outside the company...... ALLOW OR DENY?"