Hackers can make $1.5 million jailbreaking iOS 10

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iPhone 7
You can make big bucks hacking the iPhone.
Photo: Ste Smith

Looking for a quick way to become a millionaire? Just try hacking the iPhone.

Software security firm Zerodium revealed today that it has raised the price of its permanent bounty on iOS zero-day exploits, giving hackers a chance to earn up to $1.5 million if their exploit meets all the requirements.

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“We want to attract more suppliers as we can afford to buy multiple iOS exploit chains,” Chaouki Bekrar, the founder of Zerodium, told Motherboard. “We are backed by big buyers and customers, our zero-day acquisition budget is a kind of unlimited.”

zerodium hacker payscale
Here’s how much you can make hacking for Zerodium.
Photo: Zerodium

Apple finally opened its own bug bounty for zero-day exploits earlier this year, but it only pays out $200,000 for vulnerabilities.

Zerodium’s new bounty price is a serious step up from the $1 million it offered hackers last year for breaking into iOS 9. Like many other hacking companies, Zerodium sells its wares to government agencies and private companies looking to hack into devices without alerting users.

Considering at least one hacker has already jailbroken iOS 10, it shouldn’t be long before someone claims Zerodium’s prize. If you’re not the first to pull it off though, don’t worry. The company says it has enough funds to pay for multiple zero-day vulnerabilities.

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