Apple to Pay One Million Dollar Bounty to Anyone Who Can Hack iPhone

Apple announced the decision amid security concerns after earlier this month it failed to tackle flaws in a programme that researched user recordings via Siri and sent sensitive data to contractors without disclosing it in privacy documentation.

Apple's Head of Security Engineering and Architecture Ivan Krstić stated that the company would pay $1 mln dollars to anyone who can hack an iPhone. The main bounty will be paid to a researcher who can hack the iOS core with zero clicks required by the iPhone owner. An additional 50 per cent will be awarded to hackers who can find weaknesses in software before its release.

According to his statement, made at the Black Hat convention in Las Vegas, the tech giant will also launch a Mac bug bounty and will extend it to watchOS, Apple TV, and the upcoming iPadOS, that is scheduled for release this Autumn.

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during an announcement of new products at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, Calif.

© AP Photo / Marcio Jose Sanchez

Apple will also increase payments to hackers who report faults on all operating systems and security vulnerabilities within the ICloud.

Apple raised the stakes a month after Google announced it would now offer a $30,000 bounty to hackers that report weak spots in its Chrome browser.