Hack Apple, get paid -- by Apple - CNET

But not everyone tells the company what they've found, instead selling information on how to break into Apple systems to govements or hacking organizations. It's possible the new bug bounty will encourage researchers to tell Apple first.

That could help the company avoid a repeat of the surprise ending to its recent court battle with the US Department of Justice. Apple balked when the govement asked it to help crack the encryption on an iPhone that belonged to one of the shooters in the San Beardino, Califoia, terrorist attack in December. Rather than drag matters out in courtroom appeals, the federal govement decided instead to pay an unknown cybersecurity researcher to help break into the phone.

The govement is estimated to have paid less than $1 million for the hacking technique, but the exact figure hasn't been revealed.

Maybe if Apple had been paying bounties for major flaws, it could have avoided that scenario, said Rich Mogull, CEO of cybersecurity research company Securosis. But when it comes to really valuable tools for hacking the company's products, he said, "Apple's not going to be able to out pay the govement or some Russian mafioso who can pay $1 million."

What the program will do is encourage researchers to go the distance with their findings, Mogull said. Rather than finding a flaw and moving on with their lives, experts will have a reason to prove the flaw could really let hackers in the door. That proof is required before Apple will pay up.