Factory Workers In China Once Tried To Dig A Tunnel To Smuggle Out iPhone Parts

All companies have their own proprietary technology that makes each of their products unique to them. Apple is no exception where we imagine that the company is working around the clock to help prevent leaks, but it seems that at a point in time, there was an incident that happened in China that makes it worthy of its own movie.

According to a report from The Information’s Wayne Ma (paywall), following the leak of the iPhone 5c back in 2013, Apple formed a new task force called the “New Product Security” which would monitor security at some of the company’s most sensitive suppliers over in China. One of the incidents that the team discovered, which showed the lengths that some would go to in order to smuggle parts out, was how some factory workers had attempted to dig a tunnel in the corner of a room.

This tunnel was hidden behind a large piece of machinery in which the workers were hoping that it would provide them with an exit in which they could use it to sneak out components. As if this wasn’t a crazy enough story, the report goes on to add that Apple’s security team also found that factory workers had attempted to hide parts inside of crawl spaces, tissue boxes, shoes, belts, underwear, used mop water, and even discard metal shavings.

It’s no secret that Apple is pretty strict when it comes to leaks, although based on the leaks that we’ve been seeing in the past few years, it looks like more work needs to be done.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, Cellphones
Tags: China, iPhone