Apple’s Security Bounty Program is a unique chance for skilled coders to earn significant financial rewards by identifying vulnerabilities within the company’s products. The program, initiated in 2022, focuses on rewarding those who can successfully hack into the security of iPhones, offering the potential to earn millions.
The program offers rewards ranging from $5,000 to $2 million, with the amount determined by the severity and type of vulnerability discovered. For example, those who successfully penetrate a device through physical access could earn up to $250,000. Exploiting the device via a user-installed app could yield up to $150,000, and network attacks with user interaction could result in rewards of up to $250,000.
The program also offers substantial rewards for more complex exploits. Zero-click attacks, which require no user interaction, can earn hackers $1 million. The same amount is available for hackers able to execute a remote attack in private cloud computing. The highest prize, $2 million, is offered for successfully bypassing the security of an iPhone in Lockdown Mode.
The Security Bounty Program includes Apple products such as iPhones, Watches, and Macs. However, vulnerabilities associated with Apple Pay, phishing, or social engineering are not covered. The program focuses on hardware and software vulnerabilities within Apple’s own ecosystem, excluding third-party services.