Google Will Pay Hackers $200,000, Who Will Find Bug In Android
Alphabet’s Google has decided and claimed to reward the hackers $200,000 who will find out a bug in its mobile operating system Android. Google has done a number of innovations in android if compared to the older versions, but still has not yet reached the biggest bug in its software. And so as to encourage more software engineers and researchers, Google has decided to increase its ‘Bug Bounty’ programme and expand the reward to $200,000.
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After when ‘Judy’, a malware that affected 36.5 million android users was detected, Google made this announcement. Judy was discovered by CheckPoint, a security research firm who claimed that the malware affected over 41 apps in Google Play Store and was in there from April 2016. The apps were unnoticed by Google but now have been removed.
Not only Google, but Apple, Microsoft and Facebook also have big bounty reward programs for hackers who find out bugs in the programs. The amount won by the hacker depends on the extremity of the hack. The security researchers who find out the way to exploit the software are rewarded. Google started its bounty program 2 years ago. Earlier the reward was $50,000 but now it has been increased to $200,000.
The Google researchers wrote: “Two years ago, we launched the Android Security Rewards program. In its second year, we’ve seen great progress. Thank you to all the amazing researchers who submitted complete vulnerability reports to us last year.”
“We’re constantly working to improve the Android Security Rewards program and today we’re making a few changes. In addition to rewarding for vulnerabilities, we continue to work with the broad and diverse Android ecosystem to protect users from issues reported through our program.We collaborate with manufacturers to ensure issues are fixed on their devices through monthly security updates. Over 100 device models have a majority of their deployed devices running a security update from the last 90 days. Thank you to everyone who helped making Android safer.”
“Through [Android Security Rewards] we provide monetary rewards and public recognition for vulnerabilities disclosed to the Android Security Team,” Google says on its website. “The reward level is based on the bug severity and increases for complete reports that include reproduction code, test cases, and patches. Android Security Rewards covers bugs in code that runs on eligible devices and isn’t already covered by other reward programs at Google. Eligible bugs include those in AOSP code, OEM code (libraries and drivers), the kernel, and the TrustZone OS and modules.”
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