14 DAY TRIAL // After reading stories about iOS exploits fetching as much as half a million dollars on the black market for software vulnerabilities, you might think the hackers are pretty enticed to make a pitch to the government, the army, or other parties who might be interested in buying.
But they’re not.
In fact, as David Wang (@planetbeing) told us during a Q&A session at Hack in the Box 2013 Amsterdam, he and his fellow hacking friends (pod2g, pimskeks and Musclenerd) haven’t engaged in such discussions with potential buyers.
“No one has ever contacted me about pricing the exploits, so I have little to no idea. You guys probably know more about it than I do,” Wang told us (USTREAM – our question is around the 12 minute mark).
He continued, saying “There are certain news articles out there that claim that the prices for the vulnerabilities are as high as $250.000, $400.000 or something like that, but I have no personal experience.”
“I don’t think any of us has any personal experience that can validate something like that,” Wang said.
Charlie Miller is just one of the renowned hackers who advocated that iOS exploits are so valuable that the Government would pay in the hundreds of thousands for them.
Apparently those who actually find the vulnerabilities and exploit them have their own version of the story.
Still, hackers like David Wang can fetch a pretty sum whenever there’s demand for a new jailbreak (i.e. the upcoming iOS 7).
When the hype reaches just the right proportions, a well-placed “Donate” button on just the right blog can pave the way for huge profits. Evasi0n.com not only features a “Contribute” button but also displays ads. With tens of millions of page views in just a few weeks, it’s easy to see why the hackers needn’t ask anyone to buy them breakfast.