Price of zero-day exploits rises as companies harden products against hackers

The report outlines Crowdfense’s updated, higher price list for zero-day exploits—offering up to $7M for iOS, $5M for Android, and multimillion-dollar payouts for Chrome, Safari, WhatsApp, and iMessage—citing the rising difficulty and cost of developing reliable exploits. It contextualizes the market with Google’s observation of 97 zero-days used in 2023, discusses the role of spyware vendors and brokers, and notes U.S. sanctions targeting firms like Intellexa, alongside claims of export-control compliance by brokers.