Apple Hires IPhone Hacker
Apple hired infamous 19-year-old iPhone hacker, Nicholas Allegra, turning a longtime headache into a useful asset as companies and governments bolster device security.
Allegra, who goes by the online handle Comex, tweeted about his new position at the Cupertino, Calif.-based company.
"It's been really, really fun, but it's also been a while and I've been getting bored," he wrote. "So, the week after next I will be starting an internship with Apple."
Comex boasts an impressive resume, as he created jailbreakme.com to let people unlock their iPhones with ease. Unlocked phones work on any wireless carrier and can also download apps outside of Apple's App Store, giving the handset owners more freedom in how they use the device.
Apple declined to comment on Comex' reported role at the company, but the decision may likely help Apple bolster its device security.
"Apple, by taking the carrot instead of stick approach, has saved itself that massive PR headache," said tech writer Andy Greenberg in Forbes. "And by hiring someone who actually understands its products' security weaknesses, it may just be making its users safer, too."
The Cupertino company may be angling for Comex to help identify and patch security holes before other hackers use them to exploit iOS devices.
Apple isn't the only tech company adopting the "If you can't beat 'em, hire 'em" motto. Facebook this spring hired hacker George Hotz, known as Geohot, after Sony sued him for posting instructions on how to root PS3's and install Linux software on the consoles.
Although the case is now settled, Sony's decision to attack rather than hire Geohot spurred a massive hacking spree that left the Japanese company crippled.
As hackers become more sophisticated, more tech companies may want to follow Apple and Facebook's example in snatching up even black hat talent rather than see it turned against them. The government as well is looking to bolster its ranks with hacking talent in light of high-profile data breaches, recently recruiting at hacker gatherings like DefCon.
However, working with hackers has its limits, as the recent arrests of Anonymous and LulzSec hacktivists indicate, but businesses and government officials may have no other choice as data breaches and hacks become more prevalent.
