Over the past few years, fears about cybersecurity have increased manifold among most people in the world, and there are legitimate reasons behind such a development. The revelations from whistleblowers have proven beyond doubt that there are organizations who are engaged in trying to gather as much as information as they can about individuals. In addition to that, the data security issues with Facebook that resulted in massive leaks about user information did not help matters either. However, Apple is one company that has always taken the matter of cybersecurity with extreme seriousness.
Over the years, it has steadfastly maintained that most of their products are almost impregnable and the same goes for its most famous product, the iPhone. However, the company does not sit on its laurels and is known to continuously improve on its products. In a new development, the company has offered a prize of $1 million to any cybersecurity researcher who will be able to expose any security flaws in the iPhone. Considering the fact that hacking and snooping from governments have become widespread, such an exercise can help the company to expose flaws in its products that it might not be aware of.
The Black Hat security conference is going to be held in Las Vegas on Thursday, and Apple said that it would provide access to the iPhone to all researchers who are interested. The highest prize of $1 million is reserved for an expert who can access the iPhone kernel without the phone’s owner being active. This is the highest bounty that has ever been offered by any company and needless to say, and it appears that it is a tough job for any hacker or cybersecurity expert. According to reports, governments are known to pay as much as $2 million for hacking maneuvers that can help them in getting into anybody’s phone. The event will definitely be watched closely by enthusiasts as well as those who work in the cybersecurity industry. However, if a researcher does manage to claim the prize, then Apple’s engineers will need to get back on the drawing board.