With the whole purpose of finding security flaws

Aug 6, 2019 09:50 GMT  ·  By
Apple will make an official announcement on the updated bug bounty program this week
   Apple will make an official announcement on the updated bug bounty program this week

Apple will reportedly provide security researchers with special iPhone units as part of a program whose purpose is to help discover vulnerabilities and patch them before they go public.

A report from Forbes reveals that Apple is expected to release an announcement in this regard at the Black Hat security event this week, albeit plans for such a program have originally been unveiled some three years ago.

By the looks of things, the iPhones included in the program won’t come with the same level of restrictions as consumer devices, with the linked publication citing one source as saying they are more or less “dev devices.”

However, some limitations will be lifted, so security researchers would receive access to code that is otherwise blocked, and be allowed to do things like suspending the processor activity to inspect the memory for any potential vulnerability.

Bug bounty program for macOS

Needless to say, Apple still tries to play this safe, so these sample iPhones would still come with locked-down features. For instance, Apple is very likely to block the decryption of iPhone firmware.

Apple is trying to get closer to the security research community, and these iPhones will be given away to researchers that are already part of the bug bounty program for the device. The program, however, requires an invite, so Apple can tightly control everything, making sure that the found vulnerabilities don’t go public.

Additionally, the Cupertino-based tech giant is also reportedly planning a bug bounty for the Mac, so security researchers who discover vulnerabilities in the PC operating system can receive rewards based on their reports. At this point, it’s not yet clear if the program is set for a debut at Black Hat this week or Apple wants to wait a bit more before announcing it.