Apple launches a rewards program for researchers evaluating its privacy claims.
Apple allows users to explore its private cloud computing service.
Apple has decided to facilitate research on its Private Cloud Compute (PCC) system, which handles Apple Intelligence requests requiring greater computational capacity. Additionally, the company is expanding its bug bounty program, offering rewards of up to $1,000,000 to those who discover vulnerabilities in the PCC. The company has emphasized that many artificial intelligence functions, known as Apple Intelligence, will run directly on devices without needing to connect to the internet. However, for more complex requests, these will be sent to PCC servers designed with Apple Silicon and a new operating system.
Although many AI applications from other companies also use servers to process complex requests, users generally lack clarity on how secure these cloud-based operations are. Apple, which has stressed its commitment to user privacy over the years, could see its image affected if its cloud servers are not well designed. To mitigate this risk, the company has stated that the PCC has been created with enforceable security and privacy guarantees, and that security researchers have the option to independently verify these guarantees.
For researchers, Apple offers several resources, including a security guide detailing the technical aspects of PCC and a "Virtual Research Environment" that allows for security analysis of PCC on Macs with Apple Silicon and 16GB or more of memory, running the latest version of macOS Sequoia 15.1 Developer Preview. It has also made the source code for certain key components of PCC, which are essential for implementing its security and privacy requirements, publicly available on GitHub.
Regarding the bounty program, Apple will award prizes ranging from $50,000 to $1,000,000 for vulnerabilities found in various categories. The company will assess any security issues that have a "significant impact on PCC" for potential rewards.
The first features of Apple Intelligence are expected to launch for all users with iOS 18.1 next week. Some of the most notable features of Apple Intelligence, such as Genmoji and the integration of ChatGPT, were showcased in the first developer beta release of iOS 18.2 available since yesterday.
