Apple gave the biggest award ever to the student who discovered a vulnerability that allowed hackers to gain full access to Apple’s Mac devices. Exactly 2 months before Apple gave a reward of only $7,500 to Turkish software developer Rıza Sabuncu, who found and reported the company’s security vulnerabilities.
Apple gave a prize of 100,500 dollars to the university student who found a deficit in Apple’s Mac computers. This is a record considering the other awards that Apple gives to those who find a vulnerability.
Discovered a vulnerability that could access Mac cameras, leaving them completely open to hackers
A cybersecurity student named Ryan Pickren had previously discovered vulnerabilities in iPhone and iMacs. Pickren managed to get Apple’s biggest award with this new deficit he discovered. Apparently, this deficit, which caused Pickren to receive an award of $100,500, is again caused by the cameras of the Macs.
With this vulnerability, hackers can gain full access to all web-based accounts, from iCloud on the hacked Mac to PayPal. Moreover, they can use the computer’s microphone, camera and screen sharing features. Of course, if the camera is in use, the green light next to it is on anyway.
According to Pickren, because of this vulnerability, the attacking hacker can also gain access to all files of the device by taking advantage of the Safari Web Archives, the system used by the browser to save local copies of websites.
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