Tools that allow government hackers to break into iPhones and Android phones, popular software like the Chrome and Safari browsers, and chat apps like WhatsApp and iMessage, are now worth millions of dollars — and their price has multiplied in the last few years as these products get harder to hack. On Monday, startup Crowdfense published its updated price list for these hacking tools, which are commonly known as “zero-days” because they rely on unpatched vulnerabilities in software that are unknown to the makers of that software. Companies like Crowdfense and one of its competitors, Zerodium, claim to acquire these zero-days with the goal of reselling them to other organizations, usually government agencies or government contractors, which claim they need the hacking tools to track or spy on criminals. Crowdfense is now offering between $5 million and $7 million for zero-days to break into iPhones; up to $5 million for zero-days to break into Android phones; up to $3 million and $3.5 million for Chrome and Safari zero-days, respectively; and $3 million to $5 million for WhatsApp and iMessage zero-days. In its previous price list, published in 2019, the highest payouts that Crowdfense was offering were $3 million fo… Click below to read the full story from TechCrunch
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