We all associate the word hacker like the cover image, a sinister being, dressed in black, who uses his computer skills to do evil wherever he wants to, creating viruses, malware and sneaking through the cracks of the insurmountable walls of security systems.
Well, it's not going to be. A hacker is simply a computer scientist with extensive knowledge of cyber security, capable of bypassing digital access locks. And as in all groups, there are good people and bad people. One of the good guys has helped Apple close some unlocked Safari doors, and the company has rewarded him for it.
One good day the computer scientist Ryan pickren he started searching for backdoors in the native Apple Safari browser. After intensive work, he found certain vulnerabilities in the application code, and managed to access the camera and microphone of any user. All the victim had to do was enter their website.
Apple has certain obsession with security of your software and your devices. The truth is that you can boast of it, and it is one of the distinguishing features of the brand. This has even led to problems with the US government for protecting its users' data above all else, as it should be.
But not all the credit goes to the Cupertino engineers. Sometimes they are aided by outside hackers who collaborate on the Bug Bounty Program that Apple has for this purpose. Pickren, through the program, notified Apple of his discovery, and has been awarded $ 75.000.
The hacker found nothing less than seven vulnerabilities in Safari, three of which allowed access to the iPhone camera through malicious code. All the victim had to do was log onto their website, and Pickren could now access the camera and microphone remotely. Almost nothing.
The hacker had access to the camera when visiting his website
Apple quickly fixed the problem
In December Pickren informed the company of his findings. The three most serious security bugs were fixed by Apple in January with the update of Safari 13.0.5. The other less serious defects were corrected on March 24 with the update of Safari 13.1.
Apple has gratified the help received from the hacker with U.S. dollar 75.000. Pickren, happy with it, has published that he will invest part of the money in buying new devices to continue investigating and find new ways to hack the system. Who knows if he found more than seven doors….
