Apple files lawsuit against former engineer for leaking products he hated to ‘Homeboy’
Apple filed a lawsuit earlier this month against former software engineer Andrew Aude, alleging that he wanted to “kill” a journalist saved on his phone as “Homeboy”. The secret projects included the new Apple Journal app, as first reported by Thursday.
The former Apple software engineer shared over 1,400 Signal messages with “Homeboy”, Aude’s secret name for a Wall Street Journal reporter, according to . Apple claims that Aude leaked the Apple journal app in April 2023 to the Wall Street Journal because he wanted to “kill” the project. Aaron Tilley published a at that time, Aude also shared “over 10,000 text messages” with an Information journalist.
All of this was carried out on Aude’s company-issued iPhone. Aude is accused of violating the company’s confidentiality agreement and Apple is seeking $25,000 in damages.
At one point, Aude referred to his information leak as a “necessary evil” and eagerly anticipated the “chaos” that afterwards. He hoped that his actions would cause a stir before “Apple’s corporate people even woke up”. Apple alleges that Aude was malicious and obstinate in what products he leaked.
Aude also leaked details about Apple Vision Pro in October 2020, despite Apple. In August 2021, the software engineer confirmed rumors about a design feature of an unreleased Apple device, noting that it was “one of Apple’s best secret features”.
Aude was caught in November 2023, when a manager asked him if he had been leaking information to journalists. He denied the accusation and then ran to the bathroom to delete much of his evidence, according to court records. A month later, Aude admitted to leaking tons of Apple information and was fired in December.
Apple claims that all of Aude’s leaks had a purpose and that the software engineer still poses a threat to the company, even though he no longer works there. Apple says his history of leaking information and his deep knowledge of the company’s secrets make him a continued security risk.
Apple is subject to many leaks, in part because the company has many secret projects. The company sued and . In that case, the FBI was forced to get involved to prevent a man from fleeing with trade secrets to China.
