Most know by now that getting hold of cracks and exploits are pretty hard to come. Compared to recent years, getting hold of an iOS jailbreak or even some exploits for leading messaging apps like WhatsApp and iMessage have been scarce. There are a number of hackers still trying but no one has come up with something credible and made them public.
For Zerodium, a company that is in the business of buying software exploits, offering a bigger reward could entice hackers to come up and share their breakthroughs. They recently doubled the rewards for iOS jailbreaks and exploits to an incredible $2 million and $1 million respectively, announced via their Twitter account.
Offering quite a hefty sum somehow signals how hard it is to get an exploit nowadays. While a lot of them are available online, it remains that there are risks involved. That includes malware or apps that make no sense since they do not work. This is a reality and a reminder to most to be careful of what they get online.
Zerodium has established itself as one of the insane companies offering higher rewards compared to other organization. They are offering lucrative pay to researchers who might otherwise report flaws they find to bug bounty programs run by Google, Microsoft, and Apple. This is something that allows the said companies to patch the flaws immediately once bugs or exploits are reported.
The generous amount offered should be easy money for hackers who have made a living studying and breaking codes on select software. And the exploits are not limited to mobile operating systems such as iOS and Android.
Computer operating systems have not been spared as well, particularly the Zerodium markets itself as paying higher rewards than any other organization, offering far more to researchers who might otherwise report flaws they find to bug bounty programs run by Google, Microsoft, and Apple, which would aim to patch them.
iOS Jailbreaks have been deemed harmless by some with most purely interested to get free apps and access features that have been locked off. The only thing is that it places the device at risk, eventually forcing them to restore their phone or tablet back to its factory settings. This could also result in the loss of data and files, a reason why it would be best to back them up frequently.
The bounty is tempting and hackers may just be enticed to take it up. Not only is Zerodium waiting, but so are others who dare to use exploits despite the risks.
