Whistleblower Says IBM Hid Data Breaches
A former IBM executive says the company hid three major data breaches. The executive is William Barlow. He worked as IBM's vice president of threat intelligence. He left the company in August 2019. Barlow says Chinese hackers broke into IBM's core network. This happened between 2013 and 2016. IBM did not tell anyone about the breaches. The company also did not tell the US government. IBM sells security to the US government. This makes the case very important. Barlow also says two IBM subsidiaries had breaches. One subsidiary is Trusteer. It is a cybersecurity startup. IBM bought it in 2013. Hackers broke into Trusteer in 2018. Another subsidiary is Truven. It is a healthcare data startup. IBM bought it in 2016. Hackers broke into Truven many times after the purchase. Barlow says IBM did not investigate these breaches. The lawsuit was filed in 2020. A judge unsealed it this week. IBM's spokesperson, Miki Carver, did not answer specific questions. Carver said the US Department of Justice looked at the case. It decided not to take action. Carver also said IBM followed the law. The hackers were from a group called APT 10. This group is linked to the Chinese government. The FBI knows about APT 10. In 2018, the FBI indicted some members. The hackers broke into IBM's network and also into data that IBM kept with AT&T. In March 2017, intelligence officials from five countries warned IBM about the breach. These countries are Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. They are called the Five Eyes alliance. After the warning, IBM started an internal investigation. The investigation found that APT 10 broke into the network more than 56,000 times. But IBM could not investigate more. The company did not keep logs of who used the network. Logs are a basic security practice. The hackers also broke into nearly 400 accounts and almost 200 systems. These systems were in 18 countries. Barlow's lawyer, Jason Brown, said his firm will fight the case in court. Brown said you cannot sell cybersecurity to the government if you have security problems.
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What did William Barlow do at IBM?
Past Simple for Completed Actions
We use past simple to talk about actions that finished in the past. Example: 'Hackers broke into IBM's network.'
“A former IBM executive says the company hid three major data breaches.”
What to know · A2
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- 01“A former executive says IBM hid breaches.”
- 02“The hackers broke into the network many times.”
- 03“IBM did not keep logs of who used the network.”
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🔑Key Phrases
This phrase uses past simple and a common verb 'hid'. It helps A2 learners understand reporting verbs.
past simple→The student hid his test results from his parents.
This negative past simple structure is essential for A2 learners to deny actions in the past.
past simple negative→She did not tell anyone about the party.
This uses 'will' for future intention, a key A2 grammar point for making promises or plans.
future with 'will'→I will fight for my rights.
🎙️ Article Audio — Kokoro TTS
Whistleblower Says IBM Hid Data Breaches
Adapted from TechCrunch · Read the original. LinguaPress rewrites the facts as original graded-reader text for language learners.
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