iPhone: The new Lockdown Mode of iOS 16 brings “extreme” security – $2 million for anyone who hacks it

Apple is taking new steps to strengthen its ecosystem

Through its official website, Apple has just announced several new important measures it is taking to strengthen security in its ecosystem.

In this context, the company announced Lockdown Mode . This is a new function that will be added to iPhones and iPads , as well as to Mac computers, through iOS 16 , iPadOS 16 and macOS Ventura respectively. Lockdown Mode is intended for target users such as politicians, journalists and activists, and promises “extreme” security, closing almost every loophole a hacker could exploit.

Going into detail, when it debuts with upcoming versions of Apple’s operating systems, Lockdown Mode will offer the following additional security measures:

• Messages will automatically block almost all types of file attachments, except images. Other features, such as link previews, will also be disabled.
• Various advanced technologies such as just-in-time (JIT) JavaScript compilation will be disabled in web browsing. These can only be activated exceptionally on specific websites that the user trusts.
• Apple services will automatically block all invitations and requests, including FaceTime calls, if they come from an unknown person with whom the user has not contacted before.
• All physical wired connections to computers or other peripherals will be blocked if iPhone is locked.
• Configuration profiles will not be able to be installed, while the device will not be able to join mobile device management (MDM) either.

At this point it is worth noting that these security measures were necessary, since for example Google’s Project Zero team had revealed that iPhone users had fallen victim to NSO Group’s Pegasus software, through a “zero-click” security loophole. where the user would simply receive an ‘infected’ GIF in iMessage and their phone would be hacked in the background, without even opening it.

Now Apple is raising the bar and feels so confident that it has put up a $2 million reward for anyone who manages to find security holes in iOS 16 with Lockdown mode enabled . In total, the company announced a $10 million investment to bolster research that exposes such threats.

You can read more about the whole project by clicking here.