Apple is finally sending out the iPhone units that it promised to security researchers. The ¡®special¡¯ iPhones are hacker-friendly and are specifically meant for use by researchers to find security loopholes in Apple¡¯s iPhones.
As can be understood, these customised iPhones are not up for sale to general buyers and instead, have exclusively been made for researchers. Titled Security Research Devices (SRDs), these units come with unique code execution and containment policies, offering researchers more access to the iOS capabilities than the regular versions of iPhones. The devices are, what is known commonly as ¡®jailbreak¡¯ units, to allow users to install malicious softwares and test their security features.
The company first announced that it would be handing out such iPhone units to researchers back in July this year. As the year ends, Apple has now started shipping the units to the researchers, who can use and test the devices for the next 12 months at the least, reports MacRumors.
The idea is to get any existing security vulnerabilities exposed as soon as possible. The researchers who expose the security flaws first will be rewarded under Apple¡¯s bug bounty program.
The program offers rewards worth up to $1.5 million (~Rs 11 crores) depending upon the level of vulnerability discovered. Back in June, Apple awarded $100,000 to Indian developer Bhavuk Jain for discovering a critical loophole in Apple¡¯s news ¡®Sign In with Apple¡¯ feature. Like other tech majors, the Cupertino firm is known for such payouts regularly.
Seems like developers have it good with such test devices and payouts from using them extensively. Unfortunately though, there is no way of getting such free iPhones for the rest of us.