Last week, we reported on a serious vulnerability in the FaceTime which made it possible to listen – or even see – another person without proper consent. At first, Apple did what it could: it turned off FaceTime’s group videoconferencing feature on its servers in order to avoid user exposure. The company is still working on a fix for both iOS and macOS and is expected to make such updates available soon.
We also inform you that the bug was discovered by a teenager called Grant Thompson, who, with the help of his mother, reported the problem to Apple a few days earlier but, due to communication failures (in the way such bugs are received and forwarded internally), nothing had been done by the company until everything was won. mainstream media coverage.
Now, the CNBC reported that a senior Apple executive (who was not identified) met with the Thompson family last Friday. They talked about how this bug reporting process could be improved. In addition, the executive stated that Grant would be eligible for Apple’s bug rewards program, as we can see in the above interview.
Asked by the journalist if he will continue to use Apple devices after the case, Grant said that this is something that happens (the failure) and that we are most likely talking about a unique situation that will not happen again. In addition, the student was satisfied with Apple’s position (of being a defender of privacy) and, therefore, does not intend to migrate to the competition.
Since it was launched, Apple’s bug reward system has been closed to guests and limited to just a few specific categories of security holes, such as accessing iCloud account data or demonstrating ways to escape security (sandbox) of iOS. That is, these financial rewards are not given to anyone who simply finds a bug «whatever» in the company’s operating systems.
The case of the FaceTime bug, however, became ugly for the company and this attitude may be a way to get around this image (a positive outcome of a situation that showed a certain fragility in the internal Apple process). Details on this possible reward that will be given to Grant, however, have not been released – it is known that Apple pays between $ 25,000 and $ 200,000 for people who discover flaws and participate in the program, depending on the level of the bug .
via 9to5Mac
