Exploit Trader Offers $1 Million Bounty for iOS 9 Hack

A security industry firm that sells hacking methods to government agencies is offering a huge reward for anyone who can develop a zero-day exploit for compromising the security of iOS 9, the new operating system for Apple’s iPhone and iPad. Zerodium has publicly put a $1 million bounty on such an exploit, in what it has dubbed The Million Dollar iOS 9 Bug Bounty, which is a bold move for deals that are usually conducted in the shadows.

“Due to the increasing number of security improvements and the effectiveness of exploit mitigations in place, Apple’s iOS is currently the most secure mobile OS,” Zerodium’s statement reads. “But don’t be fooled, secure does not mean unbreakable, it just means that iOS has currently the highest cost and complexity of vulnerability exploitation and here’s where the Million Dollar iOS 9 Bug Bounty comes into play.”

Chaouki Bekrar, founder of Zerodium, has a long history of trading in zero-day exploits, having also founded the more well-known French company Vupen, which has been very vocal in the past regarding its role in selling hacking methods to government agencies.

“Zerodium’s main goal is to capture the most advanced zero-day exploits and the highest risk vulnerabilities which are discovered, held, or sometimes stockpiled by talented researchers around the globe,” Bekrar told WIRED.

Apple should take the huge, public bounty being offered for an iOS 9 zero-day exploit as a compliment, as it suggests its newest operating system is a tough nut to crack. With $1 million on offer, though, expect many to try.

Thank you WIRED for providing us with this information.