Apple Ups Bounty to $5 Million for Zero-Click Spyware Exploits
Apple has significantly expanded its bug bounty program dedicated to strengthening the security of the iOS ecosystem. At the Hexacon offensive security conference in Paris, Ivan Krstić, Apple’s Vice President of Security Engineering and Architecture, announced a maximum reward of $2 million for a chain of vulnerabilities that could be exploited for espionage purposes.
If such an exploit chain can bypass the Lockdown Mode or is discovered in a beta version of the operating system, the total bounty may reach $5 million. The new rules will take effect next month.
The decision reflects Apple’s growing concern over the expanding market for commercial spyware and its determination to preempt such threats by closing off critical vulnerabilities before they can be weaponized. The company emphasizes that it particularly values findings that mirror real-world attack logic, and is prepared to pay substantial rewards for the expertise and effort such discoveries require.
According to Krstić, Apple has already awarded $500,000 for individual discoveries, and since the program opened to all researchers in 2020, it has paid out more than $35 million to over 800 security specialists.
Beyond increasing the reward ceiling, Apple has also broadened the scope of eligible vulnerabilities. The program now includes single-click WebKit-based attacks and radio-proximity exploits, expanding the range of research areas covered.
A new category called Target Flags has also been introduced — an innovative integration of CTF-style challenges into real-world product testing. This allows researchers to demonstrate the effectiveness of their exploits more clearly and transparently, streamlining the evaluation process.
In addition to incentivizing vulnerability researchers, Apple continues to invest in long-term architectural security. In September, the company unveiled Memory Integrity Enforcement, a new hardware-level protection mechanism embedded in the iPhone 17 lineup. Designed to block one of the most frequently exploited classes of iOS bugs, it primarily aims to safeguard high-risk user groups, including political activists, journalists, and human rights defenders.
Apple underscores that even though most users will never encounter spyware threats, protecting the most vulnerable fortifies the entire ecosystem. The company describes this as an act of moral responsibility, especially amid the continued misuse of surveillance technologies — a growing concern regularly highlighted by both tech firms and human rights organizations.
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