Security experts participating in Apple’s Security Research Device (SRD) program may soon receive their hacker-friendly iPhones. According MacRumors, the tech giant has notified the first batch of participants that their SRD phones will be shipped immediately. The program’s iPhones behave like their standard equivalents, but provide security researchers with more access so that participants can run all the tools they need to find vulnerabilities.
Apple first announced the program in July “to help improve security for all iOS users.” Researchers will keep the SRD phones that are provided for 12 months, but it is renewable if they want to continue participating after the end of the year. They are required to report any vulnerabilities they find, test or validate on the search device to Apple or the developer if the bug is in third-party code. That said, participants can still participate in Apple’s insect reward program, which has payments of up to $ 1 million. They can use their search devices to identify bugs and submit them for reward.