In an effort to streamline security research across its various platforms, Apple on Thursday released a new Apple Security Research web page for beginners and experienced hackers and security researchers who want to work with the Cupertino-based tech company to fix bugs and vulnerabilities in its software.
Apple says there are more than 1.8 billion active Apple devices worldwide, and obviously keeping each one as secure as possible is an important goal for the company.
The website invites hackers and security researchers to share their research with Apple and collaborate with the company’s engineering teams to quickly reproduce and fix issues. Contributors who assist Apple in fixing serious security issues in the company’s products may be recognized and rewarded for their efforts.
The Apple Security Bounty program was first launched to a limited number of people in 2016, and it pays out a lump sum in cash for information that improves the security of a device. The program was opened to all security researchers in 2019, and since then, according to Apple, they have paid out more than $20 million in rewards, with an average payout of $40,000 each. At least 20 security researchers received payouts of up to $100,000 each because their research led to more meaningful bug fixes.
A new Apple Security Research web page explains Apple’s goal of improving the user experience for active security researchers. Engineers will respond faster with a larger team, and issues will be easier to report with a way to report issues and get real-time updates in the new company tracker.
All these changes are due to the fact that Apple is trying to be more transparent in matters related to security. Apple sees this as an opportunity to further empower the company’s complex security mechanisms, which prominent hackers and security researchers such as CoolStar and Luca Todesco claim already make jailbreaks and other hacks for iPhone and other Apple devices more difficult.
With the launch of the new Apple Security Research website, the company will also begin accepting applications for the Apple Security Research Device Program 2023, which provides members with iOS devices exclusively for use in their security research.
As Apple’s Tim Cook continues to promote coding skills in schools across the country, this move to improve the company’s security research program appears to be a push to make security research more accessible to the general public. The company hopes that this will open up new opportunities for talented people around the world.
You can visit the new Apple Security Research web page and learn more about the Apple Security Research Device Program on the company’s website.