5 Things We Can All Take Away From Apple's iOS Hack And The $1M Bounty

Hacking into Apple's iOS is not impossible, but it is expensive--to the tune of $1Million. That's the prize that's being paid out to a group of hackers by Zerodium (a security start-up firm) that has successfully provided a remote 'jailbreak' of the latest iPhone iOS. A jailbreak is a procedure through which iPhone users hack their phones to download unauthorized apps. According to Zerodium, their clients are national security agencies who see the hack as valuable for surveillance, etc. 

Here are things we can learn from this unsettling news:

1. The technical details of the hack is extremely valuable: This hack will prove to be very lucrative for Zerodium clients (think of the return on investment out of a $1M bounty) who are looking for ways to hack into the formidable Apple iOS.

2. The hack can be sold to both sides: Whether a group is seeking the hack to attack a set of iPhones or to defend against cyberattack, those with money will have access to this important information. 

3. Zerodium clients are powerful groups: Zerodium maintains its clients are "major corporations" in finance, defence, and security, as well as governments. 

4. Nothing is safe: What this bounty makes us all realize is there is nothing immune to hacking in the world of technology--sooner or later, a hack will emerge for any device. Therefore,

5. We have a choice: Technology needs users to grow. If news of such hacks is unsettling to you as a user, you have the power to stop using technology altogether: you can simply shut down your phone, your social media, your internet and get off the grid, as it were. However, that would have a lot of social, financial, and vocational consequences, which spurs on the next logical response: deal with it. We are in the world of technology and hacks--it's part of our cyber-landscape. It is a world and a landscape of its own that we need to simply deal with. 

There have been news stories about the packability of the Android OS, to which many Apple users thumbed their noses and hurled their mockery. But now the game has changed; the giant has been defeated; and Apple users now must beware that the code to breaking into their precious iPhones is out there in the hands of those powerful enough to pay for it.

It's a new day for Apple users.