iOS 9 jailbreak has not surfaced, despite vows by jailbreaking groups to root out security flaws for exploits. In the meantime, a million dollar bounty for an iOS 9 jailbreak has not produced a winner. It is unclear if anyone has attempted to step forward to claim that award.
Bounty on iOS 9 Jailbreak Set to Expire in Three Weeks
In late September, security startup Zerodium put out a bounty on iOS 9.
"The Million Dollar iOS 9 Bug Bounty is tailored for experienced security researchers, reverse engineers, and jailbreak developers," the company's official statement reads.
"Zerodium will pay out one million U.S. dollars ($1,000,000.00) to each individual or team who creates and submits to Zerodium an exclusive, browser-based, and untethered jailbreak for the latest Apple iOS 9 operating system and devices."
The firm has reserved $3 million in reward money and plans to award up to three researchers. Even so, there is a strict set of rules to qualify for the award.
Rules include having to have the jailbreak work with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s device. Additionally, hackers can only initiate attacks using Google's Chrome, text message or Apple' Safari web browser. This is something that is considerably difficult. The full rules can be read on the company's official bounty page.
Bear in mind that once the iOS 9 security exploit is discovered, the company will not release it publically. Instead, that information is available only to paying customers. Many of the clientele include large corporations, government entities, and law enforcement agencies. Some hackers may find issues with this arrangement while others may not be bothered by such scruples. Zerodium's offer is set to expire on October 31, Halloween at 6 pm ET.
Is iOS 9 Jailbreak Coming Soon to the Public?
The latest round of gossip comes straight from jailbreak commentator iCrackUriDevice, who believes that both iOS 9 and iPhone 6s can be cracked. He predicts that the untethered iOS 9 Jailbreak may be out sometime between September and October.
The explanation for this theory comes from the track record of Apple and the top jailbreak communities - many of which are based in China. How long jailbreak users need to wait depends on the complexity of iOS 9's much-touted rootless security feature.
Earlier, Apple described rootless as something that could potentially defeat jailbreak. In response, groups including Keen and TaiG have vowed to jailbreak iOS 9 after its release. Keen even announced that they invited the Pangu jailbreak community to collaborate on such an effort. It is not clear whether Pangu has accepted such overtures.
In late August, Pangu revealed an iOS 8.4.1 jailbreak update at a security conference in China. However, the hacking group may have decided to hold off on iOS 8.4.1 jailbreak in order to not reveal security exploits that may find their way to iOS 9.
