Apple is offering cyber security researchers up to $1 million to detect flaws in iPhones, the largest reward offered by a company to defend against hackers.
[Apple new bounty program] comes at a time of rising concern about governments breaking into the mobile devices of dissidents, journalists and human rights advocates.
Unlike other technology providers, Apple previously offered rewards only to invited researchers who tried to find flaws in its phones and cloud backups.
At the annual Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas on Thursday, the company said it would open the process to all researchers, add Mac software and other targets, and offer a range of rewards, called “bounties,” for the most significant findings.
The $1 million prize would apply only to remote access to the iPhone kernel without any action from the phone’s user. Apple’s previous highest bounty was $200,000 for friendly reports of bugs that can then be fixed with software updates and not leave them exposed to criminals or spies.
Apple is taking other steps to make research easier, including offering a modified phone that has some security measures disabled.
MacDailyNews Take: These bounties are much more in line with the going rate for big boy exploits and we’re very happy to see the Mac finally included, too!
Loosen the purse strings, Apple. Extend your bug bounty program to include macOS (and all other operating systems not currently covered). — MacDailyNews, February 6, 2019