AfterDawn: Tech news

Google now offering rewards to users who report bugs, flaws

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 03 Nov 2010 12:14 User comments (8)

Google now offering rewards to users who report bugs, flaws Following in the footsteps of other companies such as Mozilla, Google has announced today that it is offering a reward for users that find and report security flaws in their software and Websites.
Says the company: "We are announcing an experimental new vulnerability reward program that applies to Google Web properties. As well as enabling us to thank regular contributors in a new way, we hope our new program will attract new researchers and the types of reports that help make our users safer."

Depending on how critical the flaw is, the reward will range from $500 to $3100. If you decide to give the prize to charity, Google will double the donation.

The bugs can be found on Google, YouTube, Blogger, Orkut and others. Android and Picasa are exempt.

Google started a similar program in January for its Chrome browser which they say "uncovered a wide range of great bugs...contributing to a more secure Chromium browser for millions of users."



Anyone who gets paid for the new program will also have their name featured on the credits page of the site.

Previous Next  

8 user comments

13.11.2010 00:34

You'll never see Microsoft do this.

23.11.2010 00:51

Amazing...they completely ignore bug reports relating everything else, yet they pay money to people that find security related bugs.

33.11.2010 01:07

I wonder why android is exempted, I guess its because its open source?

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 03 Nov 2010 @ 1:07

43.11.2010 03:29

No, because they never call android bugs critical, no matter how bad they are.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 03 Nov 2010 @ 3:29

53.11.2010 04:34
Grammarpatrol
Unverified new user

All you penetration testers had better run and hide...

63.11.2010 10:04

I don't know of many pen-testers out of work that would do this, unless it was for charity or there were teenagers/college students. Either way good for google and those wishing to get their name out. MS used to do something like this 10 years ago but they kept it underground and it was when Gates was in charge. You'll never see Balmer give a shred of $, edited by ddp guy hates the sound of charity too.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 03 Nov 2010 @ 2:12

73.11.2010 15:49

The top reward is $3133.7 ---Chikn

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 03 Nov 2010 @ 3:50

83.11.2010 16:03

Originally posted by Mysttic:
I don't know of many pen-testers out of work that would do this, unless it was for charity or there were teenagers/college students. Either way good for google and those wishing to get their name out. MS used to do something like this 10 years ago but they kept it underground and it was when Gates was in charge. You'll never see Balmer give a shred of $, edited by ddp guy hates the sound of charity too.
It was a poke at the incorrect grammar used in the headline.

Comments have been disabled for this article.

Latest news

VLC hits milestone: over 5 billion downloads VLC hits milestone: over 5 billion downloads (16 Mar 2024 4:31)
VLC Media Player, the versatile video-software powerhouse, has achieved a remarkable feat: it has been downloaded over 5 billion times.
2 user comments
Sideloading apps to Android gets easier, as Google settles its lawsuit Sideloading apps to Android gets easier, as Google settles its lawsuit (19 Dec 2023 11:09)
Google settled its lawsuit in September 2023, and one of the settlement terms was that the way applications are installed on Android from outside the Google Play Store must become simpler. In the future, installing APK files will be easier.
8 user comments
Roomba Combo j7+ review - Clever trick allows robot vacuum finally to tackle home with rugs and carpets Roomba Combo j7+ review - Clever trick allows robot vacuum finally to tackle home with rugs and carpets (06 Jun 2023 9:19)
Roomba Combo j7+ is the very first Roomba model to combine robot vacuum with mopping features. And Roomba Combo j7+ does all that with a very clever trick, which tackles the problem with mopping and carpets. But is it any good? We found out.
Neato, the robot vacuum company, ends its operations Neato, the robot vacuum company, ends its operations (02 May 2023 3:38)
Neato Robotics has ceased its operations. American robot vacuum pioneer founded in 2005 has finally called it quits and company will cease its operations and sales. Only a skeleton crew will remain who will keep the servers running until 2028.
5 user comments
How to Send Messages to Yourself on WhatsApp How to Send Messages to Yourself on WhatsApp (20 Mar 2023 1:25)
The world's most popular messaging platform, Meta-owned WhatsApp has enabled sending messages to yourself. While at first, this might seem like an odd feature, it can be very useful in a lot of situations. ....
18 user comments

News archive