Former Apple Employee Pleads Guilty to Selling Company Secrets
Last August a man by the name of Paul Devine, 37 years old, was arrested following an FBI and IRS investigation. Apparently Mr. Devine was taking information on "product forecasts, roadmaps, pricing targets, product specifications, and data obtained from Apple's business partners" and passing it along to Apple's suppliers.Why would suppliers want this info? Well typically they compete for Apple contracts and this info could give them an edge in the process. It could also afford them an advantage in negotiations on price/etc. once they had won the contract. Additionally, the information could be passed along to rival firms as some suppliers, like China's Foxconn, work with many companies.
The sell-out netted Mr. Devine over $10,000 in cash transferred from banks in the U.S. and overseas. And it cost Apple, by the company's estimates, over $2.4M USD. (more)
