Apple gives iPhones with less restrictions to security researchers – Computer – News

Apple distributes special iPhones to security researchers. It concerns adapted hardware with which researchers can find vulnerabilities. The phones offer more options than consumer phones, but the program also has restrictions.

The devices are Security research devices. Apple distributes it to a small group of security researchers. They can use the phones to find vulnerabilities in the software or to test them. There are conditions to that. Apple only distributes the phones to researchers who have found holes in iOS in the past, and they must be members of the Apple Developer Program. Researchers are also obliged to report the bugs found via Apples bugbountyprogramma.

The iPhones themselves are always the latest model. Most security features are disabled on the phones. The phones not only provide access to software that is not available on consumer phones, but also to certain aspects of the hardware. This allows researchers to get started with the Secure Enclaves on the chips. Phones like that are circulating on the black market and are worth a lot of money.

Apple said last year during the Black Hat conference all it wants to give special iPhones to security researchers. The company has been struggling for years with how it can accommodate security researchers. Precisely because root access to iPhones is so difficult to obtain, zero days in iOS are worth a lot of money, millions of euros in the commercial market, while Apple itself pay less through the bug bounty program. The company hopes to accommodate security researchers by making it easier for them to conduct investigations.

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