Apple is giving jailbroken iPhones to hackers to tighten iOS security

guest · Aug 6, 2019

Apple is giving jailbroken iPhones to hackers to tighten iOS security
August 6, 2019
https://www.trustedreviews.com/news/apple-jailbroken-iphones-hackers-ios-3928028

The tech giant will announce plans to give iPhones to known hackers alongside the unveiling on its bug bounty programme this week. The company is offering an impressive bounty of up to $200,000 to anyone able to identify security issues in Apple’s operating systems… as long as they have an invite.

According to reports by Forbes, the jailbroken iPhones will differ from regular consumer iPhones in that they will basically be “dev devices”. This means that the handsets will afford the user significantly more freedom and flexibility than a regular iPhone would.
Of course the jailbroken devices won’t be too easy to crack as to avoid crossing the line and handing out the same handsets used by those in Apple’s internal security team.
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guest · Jul 22, 2020

Apple will provide 'hacker-friendly' phones to security researchers
July 22, 2020
https://www.engadget.com/apple-iphone-hacker-friendly-security-183536979.html

Apple has claimed for years that its devices are more secure than the competition, but it was often through restricting access to its software. Now, however, the company is ready to take a different tack. It will begin loaning out special “Security Research Device” (SRD) iPhones to security researchers so that they can truly suss out the device’s security vulnerabilities.

Apple said that they’re not designed for personal use and must stay put at the premises of the researchers at all times. In other words, these are not meant for carrying outside in the world.
Techcrunch also reported that program participants will have access to extensive documentation and a dedicated forum with Apple engineers.
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Device availability is limited, and researchers need to apply to be in the program. They must be an Account Holder in the Apple Developer Program, a proven track record of finding security issues, and be based in an eligible country or region.
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guest · Jul 23, 2020

Google lead says he’s ‘disappointed’ with Apple’s new iPhone security program
July 22, 2020
https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/google-project-zero-apple-iphone-security-comment/

Apple’s new hacker-friendly iPhones offer security researchers unrestricted access to devices so that they can easily hunt down vulnerabilities and bugs. But Ben Hawkes, technical lead at Project Zero, a team at Google tasked with discovering security flaws, says he’s “pretty disappointed” with Apple’s latest security program.

However, Apple has kept the control of the timeline to itself and developers who sign up for this new iPhone security program have to agree that they can’t disclose the issues they find until Apple allows them to.
Hawkes, in a Twitter thread, said that its team won’t be able to take advantage of Apple’s “Security Research Device” (SRD) iPhones since it appears to exclude security groups that have a policy to publish their findings in three months.

“We’ll continue to research Apple platforms and provide Apple with all of our findings because we think that’s the right thing to do for user security. But I’ll confess, I’m pretty disappointed,” Hawkes added in a tweet.
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guest · Dec 22, 2020

Apple will soon send 'jailbroken' iPhones to security program participants
December 23, 2020
https://appleinsider.com/articles/2...oken-iphones-to-security-program-participants

Apple is reportedly preparing to send out "jailbroken" iPhone devices to the first participants of its Security Research Device (SRD) program, which is meant to facilitate iOS security research.

The SRD program centers on specially configured iPhones that are less locked down than consumer devices, allowing security researchers to more easily find flaws and vulnerabilities. The program was announced in August 2019, and Apple began accepting applications for it in July 2020.

On Tuesday, Apple began notifying the first applicants who will be receiving the specialized iPhones, according to MacRumors. The company says that the devices will be sent out right away.
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The goal of the SRD program is to allow researchers to more easily find and report security vulnerabilities in Apple platforms without needing to jailbreak devices. In a way, the program also serves as an olive branch to security researchers, who have long complained about Apple's bug bounty programs and security policies.
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guest · Aug 21, 2021

Apple’s Double Agent
He spent years inside the iPhone leaks and jailbreak community. He was also spying for Apple.
August 18, 2021
https://www.vice.com/en/article/3aqyz8/apples-double-agent

For more than a year, an active member of a community that traded in illicitly obtained internal Apple documents and devices was also acting as an informant for the company.

On Twitter and in Discord channels for the loosely defined Apple "internal" community that trades leaked information and stolen prototypes, he advertised leaked apps, manuals, and stolen devices for sale. But unbeknownst to other members in the community, he shared with Apple personal information of people who sold stolen iPhone prototypes from China, Apple employees who leaked information online, journalists who had relationships with leakers and sellers, and anything that he thought the company would find interesting and worth investigating.
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Andrey Shumeyko, also known as YRH04E and JVHResearch online, decided to share his story because he felt that Apple took advantage of him and should have compensated him for providing the company this information.
Shumeyko shared several pieces of evidence to back up his claims, including texts and an email thread between him and an Apple email address for the company's Global Security team.
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Another person, who also asked to remain anonymous as he, too, is involved in the jailbreaking and internal communities and fears retaliation from Apple, told Motherboard that Shumeyko "was most definitely involved in that community and he most definitely had some level of access to things he shouldn’t have."

According to the person involved in the jailbreaking community, "the 'Apple Internal Community' is just a bunch of kids on Twitter who find, buy, sell, and trade firmware or other such things without realizing the repercussions such things carry."
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