After Facebook and Google, Apple will now pay a 'Bug Bounty' to hackers who report flaws

Apple, who focuses heavily on security, has now stated that it would offer rewards of up to $200,000 to hackers who reveal security flaws in the company software. The program will launch in September and will initially be invitation-only to a select group of researchers.

At the Black Hat hacking conference, Ivan Krstic, head of security engineering and architecture for Apple stated that it will introduce a so-called “bug bounty” program, which will pay developers who discover vulnerabilities in their computer code.

A report by The New York Times points out that the company  announced a list of vulnerabilities that would command big bounties, including $25,000 for ways around Apple’s digital compartments and into its customers’ data, $50,000 for bugs that give hackers a way into iCloud data, and $200,000 to turn over critical vulnerabilities in Apple’s firmware.

In the past, other internet companies such as Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo and Google have all offered big bounties to hackers for discovering faults in their service.