If You Can Hack an iPhone, This Apple Challenge is for You

Apple is putting up a bounty program for this security research

Just recently, Apple announced its new bug bounty program for security researches. In this program, Apple has issued out a challenge to developers. So, in case you can hack an iPhone, you will win up to $1.5 million for that. The challenge is simply to find security vulnerabilities in the phone.

Basically, the invite-only program offers bigger cash bounties for specific vulnerabilities, which is up to $1 million. For instance, one of these would be the “zero-click kernel code execution with persistence and kernel PAC bypass.”

At the same time, an added $500,000 will be given out for vulnerabilities that are not yet known to Apple. This will also apply to unique occurrences in public beta. However, if you could hack an iPhone, you will first have to disclose the problem to Apple. Only after that, would it go public.

With all the news surrounding iPhone 11, it looks like Apple is trying to reach a near-perfect level of security by issuing challenges to the most talented of the folks. Perhaps, just to see if anyone can hack an iPhone after all. A successful attempt would obviously mean that the security is rather flawed.

However, at the same time, Apple is also willing to offer a very high cash bounty. This suggests that the company is quite sure about its strong security measures. So let’s say, anyone who would hack an iPhone, would definitely be among the geniuses.

In comparison to Android, IOS has been known for its very robust security features. While it is relatively easy to break through an Android OS, IOS would still require a greater level of effort. Now, it might be even more difficult since the phone company is ensuring that all possible loopholes are blocked out. This is the major purpose of this ‘hack an iPhone’ bounty program.

Furthermore, this ‘hack an iPhone’ bounty program is one of its kind since we have not seen something like this ever before. Apple loyalists are quite excited though, to see if anyone would succeed at it (especially since Apple has put up a big cash bounty for a successful attempt).

By me @Forbes and @ForbesEurope: hacking an #iPhone can be a lucrative business, especially if you can show #Apple how. Bug bounty program now open to all.#infosec #CyberSecurity #hackers #hacking #bounty #BountyHunter #Reward #Smartphones #TechNews https://t.co/YTubGp7nBz

— Davey Winder (@happygeek) December 20, 2019