[HN Gopher] Unreleased MacBook Schematics Stolen in $50M Ransomw...
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Unreleased MacBook Schematics Stolen in $50M Ransomware Attack on
Apple Supplier
Author : sahin
Score : 92 points
Date : 2021-04-21 12:53 UTC (10 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.macrumors.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.macrumors.com)
| [deleted]
| w-m wrote:
| Why 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?
| segfaultbuserr wrote:
| In my opinion it doesn't worth the ransom price at all. I don't
| see anything unusual in the schematics - it just looks like one
| of those laptop schematics online that would definitely leak
| from the OEM within a year after the machine is released and it
| would be used by all repair technicians all over the world.
| Cthulhu_ wrote:
| I think they're mainly betting on Apple wanting to keep the
| designs a secret until they are ready to reveal them. There's
| been numerous iPhone design leaks beforehand. I don't believe
| it actually impacted sales or reputation in any way, but Apple
| is still being secretive about it.
| high_density wrote:
| but those leaks weren't 100% believable --- this case, it's
| different. (or apple can just change their future
| products...)
| newsclues wrote:
| Channel sell through may be impacted if new products are known
| ahead of their sales schedule, resulting in unsold inventory or
| discounts
| quesera wrote:
| I would expect the impact to be small -- Apple releases new
| hardware on a very predictable schedule, and this kind of
| news is a bit esoteric to influence the casual buyer.
| newsclues wrote:
| Unless you have a big product change, and consumers realize
| it would be stupid not to wait for the improvement.
|
| If the information of the new product provides consumers
| even a reason to wait that could cost Apple dearly, this is
| why they are notoriously secretive.
| quesera wrote:
| Right, that's the "Osborne Effect"[0], which is certainly
| a consideration.
|
| But I think Apple's secrecy is more about maximizing the
| marketing impact of announcements, and making competitors
| work harder to predict product directions.
|
| 0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_effect
| Tagbert wrote:
| We've already had rumors that closely match what was
| revealed by the schematics so the impact of this latest
| release would not be that large.
|
| Most customers are not even aware of possible model
| changes when they purchase. A reasonably technically
| adept friend of mine just bought a new iMac the other
| day. When they told me, they were very happy about and
| and I had to avoid noticeably wincing. If I had known
| before the purchase i would have advised them to wait for
| the upcoming redesigned models with the M-series chips
| instead of the old stuff. I think that this is how most
| customers approach purchases. They don't pay attention to
| rumors and news about newer products.
| inspector-g wrote:
| > Apple releases new hardware on a very predictable
| schedule
|
| Tell that to people in the market for pro-level Mac
| hardware.
| 908B64B197 wrote:
| Apple is notorious for not keeping a large inventory.
| fredsted wrote:
| Perhaps 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 wrote:
| > _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.
| coldtea wrote:
| > _The target is only Apple itself, the random group does
| not accept third-party payment_
|
| Because they're so ethical? If a third party wanted to pay
| them $50M or even remotely close to that, they'd accept in
| 0 seconds.
| csharptwdec19 wrote:
| > 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 wrote:
| Thanks for the correction!
| v8dev123 wrote:
| The 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-...
| PragmaticPulp wrote:
| Going 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 wrote:
| Hopefully independent repairmen like Louis Rossmann (who also
| support Right to Repair) will benefit from leaks.
| bogwog wrote:
| Maybe if these docs get released it will help independent repair
| shops.
| wl wrote:
| Finding these for released computers isn't difficult.
| userbinator wrote:
| No 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...)
| cigaser wrote:
| Or they will get branded as terrorists.
| gruez wrote:
| My impression is that they already have it... somehow. Louis
| rossmann frequently shows schematics on his youtube channel
| when doing repairs.
| Workaccount2 wrote:
| I always assumed those were Chinese reverse engineered. They
| do some absolutely insane reverse engineering over there.
| segfaultbuserr wrote:
| Not 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 wrote:
| My Amiga came with fold out schematics in the manual.
| Arguably, manufacturers should be required for to provide
| them for every device sold.
| drewzero1 wrote:
| I'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 wrote:
| At 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.
| robertoandred wrote:
| yeah, he and his shop are really shady
| poyu wrote:
| Can you expand on the shady part a bit more? I'm curious to
| hear about it.
| Karsteski wrote:
| Why do you say this?
| Invictus0 wrote:
| The 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 wrote:
| That alone would cause me to believe these to be suspect. Apple
| has never relented on removing of ports.
| Invictus0 wrote:
| I 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 wrote:
| It's not inconceivable to have false flags / canary trap
| type of documents.
| yftsui wrote:
| These 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.
| tristanj wrote:
| Looks like another corporation will soon be joining the crypto
| buying frenzy. That's bullish news for Bitcoin!
| bombcar wrote:
| If you want your random paid isn't being discreet about it a
| better plan?
| FDSGSG wrote:
| They all start discreet, it's only when the company refuses to
| pay or respond that they go to the media.
| voisin wrote:
| Better strategy: flood the market with accurate looking but
| incorrect schematics. Dilute the thieves.
| dylan604 wrote:
| This was my thought when hearing the plans show them adding
| ports back. Thats so not Apple to do that.
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(page generated 2021-04-21 23:04 UTC)