Apple 's name is associated with another scandal, this time stemming from a group of its employees who participated in an underground network in China selling users' personal data.
According to a report from the local police, after months of investigation, 22 individuals were arrested and at least 20 of them stated that they work at Apple.
Apple employees apparently used the company's network to access personal customer information, including names, phone numbers, and Apple IDs. The data was then sold for between $1.5 million and $26.5 million. It's unclear exactly how the price was determined or whether sensitive information such as credit card details was included.
It was also revealed that the suspects were installed in four provinces: Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian. However, the police raid last weekend led to the seizure of computers and evidence that helped the investigation.
Apple has not yet commented publicly on the matter, but it will certainly investigate the situation. It should be noted that although Cupertino does not usually discuss cases that damage its image, this time it must do so as it is deemed necessary to disclose more information about the nature of the data that was stolen as many customers fear that personal and financial data is in the hands of the offenders.
Also, at this point it is not yet clear whether the affected customers are only in China or also in other countries. Certainly, there is a high likelihood that it concerns only local users' information as Apple may have restricted network access to block connections to external systems.
