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Unreleased MacBook Schematics Stolen in $50M Ransomware Attack on Apple Supplier
- bombcar 6y agoIf you want your random paid isn’t being discreet about it a better plan?
- FDSGSG 6y agoThey all start discreet, it's only when the company refuses to pay or respond that they go to the media.
- bogwog 6y agoMaybe if these docs get released it will help independent repair shops.
- gruez 6y agoMy impression is that they already have it... somehow. Louis rossmann frequently shows schematics on his youtube channel when doing repairs.
- Workaccount2 6y agoI always assumed those were Chinese reverse engineered. They do some absolutely insane reverse engineering over there.
- segfaultbuserr 6y agoNot reverse engineered. Most laptop schematics, including MacBook ones are definitely leaked original schematics from the OEM. Many have the OEM logo, internal part numbers and engineering notes written on it.
- sitkack 6y agoMy Amiga came with fold out schematics in the manual. Arguably, manufacturers should be required for to provide them for every device sold.
- drewzero1 6y agoI'm pretty sure Apple manuals used to include schematics, before they made the Macintosh and decided users shouldn't be able to open their computers without special tools.
- dylan604 6y agoAt some point, you get so good at reverse engineering, you no longer need to try to engineer an original from scratch. Why bother? Just wait for the new thing, reverse it, then make it yourself a year later. Hell, the "new" is being sent to you anyways to manufacture, so it's easier to just "request" the plans from the company making rather than doing the reversing.
- yftsui 6y agoNo, those are just schematics leaked from production lines especially repairing stations inside the factory. Computers used on production lines and repairing stations sometimes doesn't even have Intranet access, they just copy those PDF files over. Then someone sneak the SD card or thumb drives out with the files on it.
- robertoandred 6y agoyeah, he and his shop are really shady
- userbinator 6y agoNo kidding --- the vast majority of third-party repair information is available only because of lax security, and it's far more detailed that what the companies will ever willingly release. Laptop schematics are still relatively easy to find these days, but unfortunately the search results are flooded with people trying to sell them; they used to be even more freely available several years ago. (Google tends to want to ignore the word "schematic" in a search query, unless it is in quotes. Make of that what you will...)
- wl 6y agoFinding these for released computers isn't difficult.
- cigaser 6y agoOr they will get branded as terrorists.
- tristanj 6y agoLooks like another corporation will soon be joining the crypto buying frenzy. That’s bullish news for Bitcoin!
- w-m 6y agoWhy would these schematics hold such a high value? Apple will do a new generation of laptops, maybe they'll modify the form factor a little bit, maybe they'll update some internal components, new processor. Who could benefit from knowing the exact changes, why would Apple care (millions-of-dollars-care) if they are leaked a few months in advance?
- fredsted 6y agoPerhaps other laptop manufacturers would be intersted in knowing how Apple's future machines are built, to give them a competitive edge. I could imagine accessory and case manufacturers would be keen to know about the form factor of future MacBooks. There's also a large ecosystem of Apple news sites that would probably pay for the scoop.
- segfaultbuserr 6y ago> I could imagine accessory and case manufacturers would be keen to know [...] There's also a large ecosystem of Apple news sites that would probably pay [...] The article says, "the group is demanding that Apple pay an undisclosed ransom for the images/schematics they obtained via the supplier by May 1 [...] Until then, the hackers will continue to post new files every day, REvil said on its blog." The target is only Apple itself, the random group does not accept third-party payment and will make all information public if it's not payed. So I don't think the group wants to sell the information to accessory manufacturers or Apple news sites.
- csharptwdec19 6y ago> So I don't think the group wants to sell the information to accessory manufacturers or Apple news sites. That wouldn't be a viable business model for the ransom group; Any accessory manufacturer or news site would likely get in a legal entanglement for buying trade secrets.
- fredsted 6y agoThanks for the correction!
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- PragmaticPulp 6y agoGoing public with the demands is a risky strategy, as now Apple’s response will be publicly known. If they pay the ransom, it sends a message to everyone with access to confidential Apple manufacturing materials that they are sitting on millions of dollars of ransom material. I would guess that Apple will refuse to engage in order to avoid incentivizing everyone in their manufacturing chain from trying the same stunt. Instead, they’ll go to great lengths to investigate the leak and punish the manufacturer responsible for leaking the material. Schematics don’t hold much an exceptionally high value given that they could be reverse engineered from the product by sufficiently funded individuals. However, it would represent a leak of the details of upcoming products which is something Apple goes to great lengths to avoid.
- Bancakes 6y agoHopefully independent repairmen like Louis Rossmann (who also support Right to Repair) will benefit from leaks.
- bathtub365 6y agoWouldn’t being in possession of stolen material and profiting from it be illegal?
- Bancakes 6y agoI don't think anyone's barging in a repair shop with a court order any time soon.
- Invictus0 6y agoThe docs seem to show the return of the SD card slot on the 13 inch macbook pro as well as a new charging port--likely the return of MagSafe.
- dylan604 6y agoThat alone would cause me to believe these to be suspect. Apple has never relented on removing of ports.
- Invictus0 6y agoI downloaded the files myself, there is extensive and definitely legit electrical documentation with several pages on MagSafe and SD connectors, as well as references to projects called Monaco, Viper, and Iceman.
- dylan604 6y agoIt's not inconceivable to have false flags / canary trap type of documents.
- voisin 6y agoBetter strategy: flood the market with accurate looking but incorrect schematics. Dilute the thieves.
- dylan604 6y agoThis was my thought when hearing the plans show them adding ports back. Thats so not Apple to do that.
- v8dev123 6y agoThe author of this Ransomware [0] scrounged through the trash heaps and smoked cigarette butts. He walked 10 km one way to the school. He wore the same clothes for six months. In his youth, in a communal apartment, he didn’t eat for two or even three days. By the way, the guy donates money to open source projects. Netflix probably interested in his story. He is like Digital Version of Pablo Escobar. [0] https://therecord.media/i-scrounged-through-the-trash-heaps-now-im-a-millionaire-an-interview-with-revils-unknown/ https://therecord.media/i-scrounged-through-the-trash-heaps-...
- yftsui 6y agoThese documents appears to be just PDF schematics and electrical specifications, not even the real files that can be opened by Cadence Orcad or Allegro, anybody making a minimum wage in Quanta's production line have access to some of those files. If you are patient it is quite trivial to accumulate those documents and the tactic quite lame. As someone who has audited Quanta in my previous jobs, I am constantly being surprised that these documents are leaked so infrequently. A "Project" in Quanta start with the customer send in their schematics and mechanical drawings to the Quanta "R&D" engineers so they could redraw it to enable production in Quanta, aka EVT; then it is DVT for multi-sourcing of components and compatibility and EMC compliance, then it is PVT. Engineers usually transform the documents to PDF files and upload to the company's document center, production line operators will download those PDF files and copy it here and there, maybe even with a USB thumb drive to copy it to a production station running Windows 98 and Adobe Reader with no network access. The factories get so many projects that the leaked document maybe is for a product that already died in EVT. It is also amazing to me that those PDF iPhone Schematics always leak to the 3rd party repairman after sometime it is announced, apparently there is an invisible food chain. But for this one, REvil is simply trying to brand themselves instead of the ransom.