Unlike other tech companies, Apple offered the bounty amount only to invited researchers who tried to find flaws in its phones and cloud backups. On Thursday, the company said it would open the process to all researchers at the annual Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas. Moreover, the bounty prize would apply only if the researchers are able to remote access the iPhone kernel without any action from the phone’s user.

To recall, Apple’s highest bounty was $200,000 for friendly bug reports that could be fixed with software updates and not leave them exposed to criminals or spies. However, government contractors and brokers have paid as much as $2 million to obtain information from devices. Earlier this year, a security researcher revealed that he had discovered a flaw in macOS, but refused to provide details to Apple because of the lack of a bounty program for the operating system. The flaw could reportedly expose user passwords.Moreover, At the Black Hat USA 2019 conference in Las Vegas, a new iOS flaw was revealed which let hackers break into iPhones by just sending a text. Simply receiving an iMessage could be enough to get yourself hacked. 

Telecom operator Ncell has begun preparations to bring satellite-based connectivity to areas of Rasuwa still cut off from mobile service following the devastating Bhotekoshi floods. The initiative aims to reconnect communities that have had no telecom access since the disaster struck.

To get the necessary equipment into the affected region, Ncell is arranging chartered flights, since ground access to several of the hardest-hit areas remains difficult. Technical teams are being sent alongside the equipment to begin setup as soon as it arrives on site.

According to the company, roughly 20 locations across Rasuwa remain without any telecom coverage. Ncell has indicated that further details about how the satellite service will be rolled out are expected within the next few days.

The scale of the damage has been significant. The floods destroyed more than 60 kilometers of Ncell's fiber-optic links and knocked out 27 mobile towers spread across Nuwakot, Rasuwa, and Dhading districts. Of those, 24 sites have already been brought back online as repair crews continue working through the affected areas.

Ncell says its technical staff are continuing repair and restoration work around the clock as the company works to bring full connectivity back to the region.