Apple searching for product security managers after 2nd lost iPhone prototype

Apple listed the two identical job descriptions, first discovered by PC Mag, late last week, shortly after the news broke that the company was searching for a lost prototype of the fifth-generation iPhone. Though it's possible that the recently lost iPhone may be unrelated to Apple's search for security managers, high-profile incidents both last year and this year do appear to indicate a lapse in its usually tight secrecy that the company is working to rectify.

The Cupertino, Calif., company is searching two managers responsible "for overseeing the protection of, and managing risks to, Apple’s unreleased products and related intellectual property." The positions are based at its headquarters and will require as much as 30 percent travel both domestic and abroad.

Candidates are expected to have a proven record of "accurately assessing physical and logical security implementations" and making risk management recommendations while considering impact on "corporate culture, business operations, system architectures, manufacturing processes, and employee workflows." They are also expected to have had success implementing a "variety of security technologies." The New Product Security Manager will also work to mitigate risks associated with the company's "multi-tiered electronics supply chain."

Apple also expects the candidate to hold an advanced degree in risk or security management, as well as protection professional certification. The posting also lists more than five years of security assessment as a requirement for the position.

Two of Apple's security officials made headlines last week after reports emerged that they had accompanied police officers to the San Francisco residence of a man suspected of being in possession of the lost iPhone 5 prototype. The device is said to have been left at a bar in the Mission district of San Francisco in July before being quickly tracked by Apple to a Bernal Heights house.

Though there was some initial confusion as to whether the police joined in the investigation, the San Francisco Police Department has since stated that "three or four" of its officers accompanied Apple's security officials, but did not enter the house. One of the security officials reportedly served as a San Jose Police sergeant before joining Apple as a "senior investigator."

"Apple came to us saying that they were looking for a lost item, and some plainclothes officers responded out to the house with them," SFPD spokesman Lt. Troy Dangerfield said. "My understanding is that they stood outside...They just assisted Apple to the address."

Last year, an Apple engineer reportedly left a test iPhone 4 unit in a Redwood City, Calif., bar, where it was found and eventually sold to a publication. Two individuals have been charged with "misappropriation of lost property" in connection with the incident.

According to recently leaked Wikileaks diplomatic cables, Apple's security officials have also

">struggled to protect

Earlier this year, millions of dollars of convincing counterfeit products, including fake iPhones and iPods (pictured below), were confiscated in Los Angeles. Apple also recently executed a warrant for a raid against a New York store allegedly selling counterfeit Apple accessories as part of an ongoing lawsuit against a number of parties.