Apple and Corellium Agree on Settlement to Bring Lawsuit to an End

Apple this week dropped its long-standing lawsuit against Corellium, the security research company that provides security researchers with a replica of the iOS operating system, allowing them to locate possible security exploits within Apple's mobile operating system, The Washington Post reports.

Apple filed a lawsuit against Corellium in 2019, claiming the security company was infringing upon its copyrights of iOS and iPhone. Last year, a judge dismissed Apple's claim that Corellium had infringed upon the tech giant's copyrights, claiming instead that Corellium was operating under fair rules.

While Corellium offers a replica of the iOS operating system that runs on the iPhone, the security research firm says that it benefits Apple if anything. By providing security researchers with access to the same operating system that runs on millions of devices, security experts can find security vulnerabilities and potential exploits more efficiently, leading them to be fixed by Apple.

Citing court documents, The Washington Post reports that Apple and Corellium have agreed on a confidential settlement to bring the lawsuit to an end. Despite Apple's grievances with Corellium, however, the settlement does not include Corellium suspending the sale and distribution of tools used by security researchers.

Likely fueled by the lawsuit and the discussion around security research on iPhone, Apple last year launched a program that would give security researchers access to specially configured iPhones for researching security vulnerabilities and exploits.