Dive Brief:
- Zerodium said it is willing to pay $1 million to a hacker that can compromise iOS 9 devices, CIO reports.
- The company said it is interested in exploits that are “reliable, silent and don't require any user interaction except from visiting a Web page or reading a text.”
- Zerodium said it would share any iOS jailbreaks that are found with its customers, which it says includes major corporations from the defense, technology and finance industries.
Dive Insight:
The company said the reward would be paid to any researchers who can provide it with an "exclusive, browser-based, and untethered jailbreak for the latest Apple iOS 9 operating system and devices."
Jailbreaking is the process in which the security restrictions enforced by iOS are bypassed in order to install unauthorized applications.
Robert Graham, CEO of cybersecurity firm Errata Security, said Zerodium likely plans to sell the acquired iOS 9 exploits to multiple governments.
Such “bug bounty” contests are becoming more popular as an alternative way to address supply and demand in cyber security. A recent report by Bugcrowd found a total of 729 high-priority vulnerabilities were found using “bug bounty” types of contests over the last 2.5 years, 175 of which were characterized as ‘critical.’
