— Billy Ellis @ Blackhat/Defcon (@bellis1000) August 8, 2019 The company made the announcement at the Black Hat conference today, an update to the bug bounty program it launched three years ago. The deeper access should make researchers’ lives a lot easier, able to access deeper iOS functions without waiting for a jailbreak to be available for every update. Even though researchers won’t have quite the same level of access as Apple itself, it’s a huge step in the right direction – one that should make it easier to catch an increasing number of attacks on Apple’s software.
— Jesse D’Aguanno (@0x30n) August 8, 2019 Keep in mind these devices won’t just be available to any aspiring white hat hacker – you’ll have to have a bit of a rep already. Apple says the program is “open to everyone with a track record of high-quality systems security research on any platform.” It’s a fair compromise; it means Apple lets security researchers do their jobs with deeper access while keeping everyday users safe. The new devices will be available in 2020. Via The Verge
