In the fall, Apple plans to release a new feature called Lockdown Mode, which will add a new layer of protection for human rights advocates, political dissidents and other targets of sophisticated hacking attacks.
NSO Group, the maker of Pegasus software that can carry out such attacks, has been sued by Apple and placed on a trade blacklist by US officials.
Lockdown Mode will be available on Apple's iPhones, iPads and Macs this fall, blocking most attachments sent to the iPhone's Messages app. Security researchers believe that NSO Group exploited a flaw in how Apple handled message attachments. The new mode will block wired connections to iPhones when they are locked. Israeli firm Cellebrite has used manual connections to access iPhones.
Spyware companies have argued that they sell high-powered technology to help governments thwart national security threats. Human rights groups and journalists have documented the use of spyware to attack civil society, undermine political opposition, and interfere with elections.
Apple said it will pay up to US $2 million for each bug bounty that is found in the new mode, which Apple representatives said is the highest bug bounty in the industry.
Apple is giving a $10 million grant, plus any possible proceeds from its lawsuit against NSO Group, to groups that find, expose and work to prevent targeted hacking. Apple said the grant will go to the Dignity and Justice Fund, established by the Ford Foundation, one of the largest private foundations in the United States.