Episode 596: Hacking The iPhone For Fun, Profit, And Maybe Espionage : Planet Money Wikileaks released documents listing the hacks the CIA uses to spy on people. So we revisit our story on hackers for hire: people hunting for flaws in your phone to sell to people, or even the CIA.

Episode 596: Hacking The iPhone For Fun, Profit, And Maybe Espionage

Episode 596: Hacking The iPhone For Fun, Profit, And Maybe Espionage

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Sefa Karacan / Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Who holds the keys to the secret door into your cell phone?
Sefa Karacan / Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

This episode first ran in 2015 and contains explicit language.

Every time there is a big new release of some software, an operating system or a new browser, hackers get to work. Each new release is the start of a race because there are all these giant players who desperately want to find the new flaw in the software.

For the people who find these flaws, there's money to be made. But it's not just hackers looking for these glitches. Wikileaks released documents showing how the C.I.A. uses different software tools and techniques to break into phones, computers, and Internet-connected televisions.

Today on the show, the story of one man who stumbled on a flaw in Apple's operating system, a way to hack the phone you might have in your hands right now.

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