Apple Bug Bounty Program Updated with Prize total of $1 million

The Apple bug bounty program has been around for a little while, but is recently getting loads of buzz.

The technology juggernaut announced, at Black Hat 2019, it plans to include a $1m prize to its program. Keeping user data secure will always be one of the top priorities of any technology company, and this is really a tiny amount of change for Apple to build a more secure network.

In the past, Apple did not include macOS in their bug bounty program. In spite of this, Linus Henze from Germany was still able to find a flaw within the macOS platform. Henze did not release what he uncovered earlier this year in hopes Apple would include macOS into their bug bounty program. MacOS is now included as one of the platforms along with iOS, tvOS, watchOS and iCloud.

Great news for hackers, #Apple has changed the rules of its Bug Bounty Program:

✅ Increased maximum payout to $1 million

✅ New Targets: #iOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, iPadOS, iCloud

✅ Pre-Jailbroken #iPhone for hackers

✅ 50% extra bonus

Details ➤ https://t.co/6cNZuThpGw pic.twitter.com/9i7T3eyiAu

— The Hacker News (@TheHackersNews) August 9, 2019

The security of iOS and macOS has always been greatly respected, but keeping any OS secure is a constant job. Data security in today’s tech world will only continue to be paramount for most, if not all, companies. If your ability to secure my data is not the best possible, why would I use your product/service?

More and more breaches are happening yearly, such as this recent one from Capital One earlier this year. Apple increasing its offerings to all its platforms is an intelligent and proactive. One other thing to note is that select developers will also get special iPhones; these phones will give the developers more freedom than a consumer iPhone.

Overall, we think it’s a great move from Apple to give testers an opportunity to uncover something that would have been undiscovered. Even though it will require a lot of work, the payout is definitely worth it for most developers.