2 Aug
Apple nixes security engineering talk
Apple has pulled its security engineering team out of a planned public discussion on the company’s security practices, which had been set for next week’s Black Hat security meeting for consultation in Las Vegas.
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The panel would have been a first as being Apple, but the company pulled out of the discussion at the last minute, Black Hat Director Jeff Moss said in an conference Friday.
“Marketing got wind of it, and not any one at Apple is ever allowed to speak publicly about anything out of marketing approval,” he said.
The panel would have been a highlight of the show, giving attendees an insider look at Apple’s protection response team. Apple is notoriously secretive about its security policies, a stance that has made it a loyal target of criticism in the security community.
“It was them talking about security engineering and how they take security seriously,” Moss said. “It would have put Apple in a positive inconsiderable.”
The talk was accepted by dint of. Black Hat organizers on July 3 and abruptly cancelled on July 21, he said.
“Due to situation on the other side of my control, I regret that I will not be able to participate in Black Hat this year,” the panel’s organizer said in an e-mail to conference officials, know fully over the telephone by dint of. Moss Friday.
Moss declined to say who from Apple was scheduled to speak without interruption the panel, saying that by naming them, he could express their jobs in jeopardy.
Engineers thought that the panel would be approved by marketing for the reason that they were not set to answer any questions from the audience, he said.
This was not the first Apple talk to be pulled from Black Hat in recent weeks. Another talk, proposed by consultant Charles Edge on Apple’s FileVault encryption software, was also pulled recently, Moss said.
That talk had not actually been accepted by conference organizers, but it was the proposal to do the talk that was withdrawn, Moss said.
Edge, a consultant with 318 Inc. in Santa Monica, California, declined to comment, but according to a source familiar with the matter, the talk was pulled because Edge has signed confidentiality agreements with Apple.
An Apple speaker was unable to comment immediately for this story.
Moss said that Apple was greet back at the show, should the company make some change in. its mind.
