Apple has recently released its iOS10. The software is only a month old and yet hackers are trying to crack it already. A broker company of software exploits, Zerodium, has posted a bounty of $1.5 million dollars on Twitter for anyone who can find a "zero-day" vulnerability in Apple's latest iOS.
Last year, Zerodium put up a bounty on iOS9 for $500,000 and $100,000 for Android exploits. Apple has also launched its bug bounty with a smaller price of $200,000. The term "zero day" refers to security holes of or flaws being discovered before a developer does. If that happens, it will cost more for the company and a worse problem might occur.
Zerodium has tripled the price from $500,000 to $1.5 million for Apple's iOS software, giving the hackers a motivation to crack it. Last year's Zerodium's bounty for iOS9 was only for a limited time and one team has claimed the price for remotely jailbreaking iOS9. This time, Zerodium announced that the bounty for Apple's iOS10 is up for grabs permanently, according to On The Wire.
Announcement - Our permanent bounty for iOS #0days increased to $1,500,000. New prices for Android, Chrome, Flash... https://t.co/fwqoXlbS0j
— Zerodium (@Zerodium) September 29, 2016
The security company, Zerodium, isn't just looking for hackers to jailbreak iOS10 and Android. With the lucrative amount as an award the company's promising to the hackers, options are available such as PC software like Microsoft Office products that amounts to $80,000 and Flash (RCE), worth $100,000.
Apple is not paying more compared to Zerodium, considering the giant tech company has billions to invest. Why isn't Apple paying more? I
n comparison with spyware companies launching a one time payout, Apple's task is harder. For every new vulnerability that pops up in the software, a pay out has to be made by Apple.
A long-term solution is what Apple is looking for, especially with the repeating bugs that pop-up that needs to be fixed. "If Apple or other defense bounties tried to outbid or even match offense bug prices, they may lose the employees they need most to fix the issues", said by Moussouris, reported by The Verge.
With Apple's millions of users of their products, Apple and Zerodium are not just focusing about the bounty they are offering, no matter how big they are. The vulnerability and loopholes that can be found by anyone else and not the developer in iOS10 software could result to possibilities of attacks and wrong execution of technology. With this in mind, the damage it can create to Apple as a company and other territories matters more than the lucrative amount they are offering. Zerodium's bounty for the jailbreak of iOS10 is said to be for the invited hackers only.
