Disclaimer: I am not an Apple insider by any means, and this is all a hypothesis.
Their management of the bug bounty program seems like a reflection of their secretive (and perhaps sometimes siloed) internal culture. I'd argue that for any bug bounty program to be successful, there needs to be an inherent level of trust and very transparent lines of communication - seeing as though Apple lacks it internally (based on what I've read in reporting about the firm) it is not particularly surprising that their program happens to be run in the shadows as the OP describes.
I forget the exact term for it, but there is a "law" in management which postulates that the internal communication structures of teams are reflected in the final product that is shipped. The Apple bug bounty seems to be an example of just that.
Their management of the bug bounty program seems like a reflection of their secretive (and perhaps sometimes siloed) internal culture. I'd argue that for any bug bounty program to be successful, there needs to be an inherent level of trust and very transparent lines of communication - seeing as though Apple lacks it internally (based on what I've read in reporting about the firm) it is not particularly surprising that their program happens to be run in the shadows as the OP describes.
I forget the exact term for it, but there is a "law" in management which postulates that the internal communication structures of teams are reflected in the final product that is shipped. The Apple bug bounty seems to be an example of just that.
Edit: Its called Conway's Law