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Google adds its Chrome apps and extensions to Bug Bounty Program

Google adds its Chrome apps and extensions to Bug Bounty Program

Feb 06, 2014
Google's Vulnerability Reward Program which started in November 2010, offers a hefty reward to the one who find a good vulnerability in its products.  Now Google is getting a little more serious about the security of its Chrome Browser and has expanded its Bug Bounty Program to include all Chrome apps, extensions developed and branded as " by Google ". The Internet is a platform which has become a necessary medium for performing our daily tasks like reading news, paying bills, playing games, scheduling meetings and everything we perform on this platform is possible only because of the various applications maintained by the service providers. " We think developing Chrome extensions securely is relatively easy, but given that extensions like Hangouts and GMail are widely used, we want to make sure efforts to keep them secure are rewarded accordingly. " Google said in a blog post . Not only this, to improve the security of open-source proje
Earn up to $15,000 for Hacking Microsoft Spartan Browser

Earn up to $15,000 for Hacking Microsoft Spartan Browser

Apr 23, 2015
If you're a bug hunter and love playing with codes than you could grab as much as US$15,000 from Microsoft for finding out vulnerabilities in its latest Project Spartan browser . Yes, $15,000! It seems like Redmond don't want to take a chance to let hackers and cyber criminals get their hands on the company's latest Windows 10 operating system. On Wednesday, Microsoft announced that the company will be expanding its bug bounty program ahead of the release of Windows 10, which will include a two-month hunt for vulnerabilities in its new web browser, Project Spartan. So, it's time for security researchers and hackers to earn extra cash from Microsoft. For those who are unaware… What's Project Spartan? Project Spartan is Microsoft's project for its new web browser to replace the oldest Internet Explorer from its Windows operating system. Though the project is still very much under the developmental stage, Microsoft is making every effort to make Spartan
The Secret Weakness Execs Are Overlooking: Non-Human Identities

The Secret Weakness Execs Are Overlooking: Non-Human Identities

Oct 03, 2024Enterprise Security / Cloud Security
For years, securing a company's systems was synonymous with securing its "perimeter." There was what was safe "inside" and the unsafe outside world. We built sturdy firewalls and deployed sophisticated detection systems, confident that keeping the barbarians outside the walls kept our data and systems safe. The problem is that we no longer operate within the confines of physical on-prem installations and controlled networks. Data and applications now reside in distributed cloud environments and data centers, accessed by users and devices connecting from anywhere on the planet. The walls have crumbled, and the perimeter has dissolved, opening the door to a new battlefield: identity . Identity is at the center of what the industry has praised as the new gold standard of enterprise security: "zero trust." In this paradigm, explicit trust becomes mandatory for any interactions between systems, and no implicit trust shall subsist. Every access request, regardless of its origin,
Facebook distributing White Hat Debit Card to Bug Bounty Winners

Facebook distributing White Hat Debit Card to Bug Bounty Winners

Jan 01, 2012
Facebook distributing White Hat Debit Card to Bug Bounty Winners Polish IT security portal Niebezpiecznik.pl, which recently published an image of a bug bounty card given to Szymon Gruszecki, a Polish security researcher and penetration tester. Neal Poole, a junior at Brown University, has reported close to a dozen flaws to Facebook, and also recently received a White Hat card. Poole has earned cash reporting flaws to Google and Mozilla. Charlie Miller, Announced - Best White Hat Hacker of Year at  The Hacker News Awards  2011 and a Researcher & former hacker who has become an information security consultant now working with the Department of Defense (DOD) and helping out with cyber security, better known for finding holes in iOS 5 and Safari than Facebook, also has received a White Hat card. " Facebook whitehat card not as prestigious as the SVC card, but very cool ;) Fun way to implement no more free bugs ," he tweeted. Security researchers are getting a customized
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The State of SaaS Security 2024 Report

websiteAppOmniSaaS Security / Data Security
Learn the latest SaaS security trends and discover how to boost your cyber resilience. Get your free…
Shocking! Instagram HACKED! Researcher hacked into Instagram Server and Admin Panel

Shocking! Instagram HACKED! Researcher hacked into Instagram Server and Admin Panel

Dec 18, 2015
Ever wonder how to hack Instagram or how to hack a facebook account? Well, someone just did it! But, remember, even responsibly reporting a security vulnerability could end up in taking legal actions against you. An independent security researcher claims he was threatened by Facebook after he responsibly revealed a series of security vulnerabilities and configuration flaws that allowed him to successfully gained access to sensitive data stored on Instagram servers , including: Source Code of Instagram website SSL Certificates and Private Keys for Instagram Keys used to sign authentication cookies Personal details of Instagram Users and Employees Email server credentials Keys for over a half-dozen critical other functions However, instead of paying him a reward, Facebook has threatened to sue the researcher of intentionally withholding flaws and information from its team. Wesley Weinberg , a senior security researcher at Synack, participated in Facebook's b
Hacker Earns 1.25 Million Free Frequent Flyer Miles On United Airlines

Hacker Earns 1.25 Million Free Frequent Flyer Miles On United Airlines

Jul 17, 2015
What if you get 1 Million Frequent Flyer Miles for Free? Yes, 1 Million Air Miles… …I think that would be enough for several first-class trips to Europe or up to 20 round-trips in the United States. Two Computer Hackers have earned more than 1 Million frequent-flyer miles each from United Airlines for finding multiple security vulnerabilities in the Airline's website. Back in May this year, Chicago-based ' United Airlines ' launched a bug bounty program and invited security researchers and bug hunters to find and report security vulnerabilities in its websites, software, apps and web portals. Jordan Wiens , a security researcher from Florida and one of two bounty winners, tweeted last week that he earned United Airlines' top reward of 1 Million Miles for finding a flaw that could have allowed a hacker to seize control of one of the airline's websites. Wiens is not allowed to disclose the technical details regarding the vulnerabilities, but
Zerodium Offers $1.5 Million Bounty For iOS Zero-Day Exploits

Zerodium Offers $1.5 Million Bounty For iOS Zero-Day Exploits

Sep 30, 2016
Well, there's some good news for Hackers and Bug hunters, though a terrible news for Apple! Exploit vendor Zerodium has tripled its bug bounty for an Apple's iOS 10 zero-day exploit, offering a maximum payout of $US1.5 Million. Yes, $1,500,000.00 Reward. That's more than seven times what Apple is offering (up to $200,000) for iOS zero-days via its private, invite-only bug bounty program. Zerodium, a startup by the infamous French-based company Vupen that buys and sells zero-day exploits to government agencies around the world, previously offered US$500,000 for remote iOS 9 jailbreaks, which was temporarily increased to $1 Million for a competition help by the company last year. The company paid out $1 million contest reward for the first three iOS 9 zero-days in November to an unnamed hacker group, then lowered the price again to $500,000. With the recent release of iOS 10, Zerodium has agreed to pay $1.5 Million to anyone who can pull off a remote jail
Microsoft to Reward Hackers for Finding Bugs in Open Source Election Software

Microsoft to Reward Hackers for Finding Bugs in Open Source Election Software

Oct 18, 2019
Fair elections are the lifelines of democracy, but in recent years election hacking has become a hot topic worldwide. Whether it's American voting machines during the 2016 presidential election or India's EVMs during 2014 general elections, the integrity, transparency, and security of electronic voting machines remained questionable, leaving a wound in the minds of many that is difficult to heal. Many countries, including the largest democracy in the world i.e., India, believe the best way to ensure the security of EVMs is to make its technology opaque to bad actors, but in recent years a large section of the population is losing trust in any system that has been certified by a closed group of experts only. To make a balance between transparency and security, in May 2019, Microsoft released a free, open-source software development kit (SDK) called ElectionGuard that aims to enable end-to-end verification of voting. Microsoft's ElectionGuard SDK can be integra
Zerodium Offers $1 Million for Tor Browser 0-Days That It will Resell to Governments

Zerodium Offers $1 Million for Tor Browser 0-Days That It will Resell to Governments

Sep 13, 2017
It seems like Tor Browser zero-day exploits are in high demand right now—so much so that someone is ready to pay ONE MILLION dollars. Zerodium—a company that specialises in acquiring and reselling zero-day exploits—just announced that it will pay up to USD 1,000,000 for working zero-day exploits for the popular Tor Browser on Tails Linux and Windows operating system. Tor browser users should take this news an early warning, especially who use Tails OS to protect their privacy. Zero-day exploit acquisition platform has also published some rules and payout details on its website, announcing that the payout for Tor exploits with no JavaScript has been kept double than those with JavaScript enabled. The company has also clearly mentioned that the exploit must leverage remote code execution vulnerability, the initial attack vector should be a web page and it should work against the latest version of Tor Browser. Moreover, the zero-day Tor exploit must work without requiring an
Hack the Pentagon: Hackers find over 100 Bugs in U.S. Defense Systems

Hack the Pentagon: Hackers find over 100 Bugs in U.S. Defense Systems

Jun 14, 2016
The " Hack the Pentagon " bug bounty program by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) has been successful with more than 100 vulnerabilities uncovered by white hat hackers in Pentagon infrastructure. In March, the Defense Department launched what it calls " the first cyber Bug Bounty Program in the history of the federal government, " inviting hackers to take up the challenge of finding bugs in its networks and public faced websites that are registered under DoD. Around 1,400 whitehat (ethical) hackers participated in the Hack the Pentagon program and were awarded up to $15,000 for disclosures of the most destructive vulnerabilities in DoDs networks, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said at a technology forum on Friday. "They are helping us to be more secure at a fraction of the cost," Carter said . "And in a way that enlists the brilliance of the white hatters, rather than waits to learn the lessons of the black hatters."
Kraken Crypto Exchange Hit by $3 Million Theft Exploiting Zero-Day Flaw

Kraken Crypto Exchange Hit by $3 Million Theft Exploiting Zero-Day Flaw

Jun 19, 2024 Cybercrime / Crypto Security
Crypto exchange Kraken revealed that an unnamed security researcher exploited an "extremely critical" zero-day flaw in its platform to steal $3 million in digital assets and refused to return them. Details of the incident were shared by Kraken's Chief Security Officer, Nick Percoco, on X (formerly Twitter), stating it received a Bug Bounty program alert from the researcher about a bug that "allowed them to artificially inflate their balance on our platform" without sharing any other details Within minutes of receiving the alert, the company said it identified a security issue that essentially permitted an attacker to "initiate a deposit onto our platform and receive funds in their account without fully completing the deposit." While Kraken emphasized that no client assets were at risk due to the issue, it could have enabled a threat actor to print assets in their accounts. The problem was addressed within 47 minutes, it said. It also said the fl
Yahoo! pays $24,000 to Hacker for finding Security Vulnerabilities

Yahoo! pays $24,000 to Hacker for finding Security Vulnerabilities

Mar 17, 2015
Yahoo! has offered $24,000 to a security researcher for finding out and reporting three critical security vulnerabilities in its products including Yahoo! Stores and Yahoo!-hosted websites. While testing all the company's application, Mark Litchfield , a bug bounty hunter who often works with different companies, discovered three critical vulnerabilities in Yahoo!'s products. All the three vulnerabilities have now been fixed by Yahoo!. THREE CRITICAL SECURITY VULNERABILITIES The first and most critical vulnerability gives hackers full administrator access to Yahoo!'s e-commerce platform, Yahoo! Small Business , a portal that allows small business owners to create their own web stores through Yahoo! and sell merchandise. According to the researcher, the flaw in the service allowed him to fully administrator any Yahoo store and thereby gain access to customers' personally identifiable information, including names, email addresses, telephone numbers.
Yahoo is now offering up to $15,000 in bug bounty after policy review

Yahoo is now offering up to $15,000 in bug bounty after policy review

Oct 03, 2013
Offering cash rewards for vulnerability reports has become something of a norm when it comes to big tech companies these days.  Yahoo has changed its bug bounty policies following a deluge of negative feedback in the wake of the news that ethical hackers were rewarded with $12.50 in gift vouchers for security flaw discoveries. The company unveiled a new program to reward reporters who shed light on bugs and vulnerabilities classified as new, unique and/or high risk issues. Starting October 31, 2013, individuals and firms who report bugs will be rewarded with anything between $150-$15,000. " The amount will be determined by a clear system based on a set of defined elements that capture the severity of the issue ," Director of security, Ramses Martinez, announced . Yahoo denied that its new program was a response to the criticism, saying it was already working on a new bug bounty system before the furore. Martinez begins by labelling himself as the &q
Google offers up to $1.5 million bounty for remotely hacking Titan M chip

Google offers up to $1.5 million bounty for remotely hacking Titan M chip

Nov 22, 2019
With its latest announcement to increase bug bounty rewards for finding and reporting critical vulnerabilities in the Android operating system, Google yesterday set up a new challenging level for hackers that could let them win a bounty of up to $1.5 million. Starting today, Google will pay $1 million for a "full chain remote code execution exploit with persistence which compromises the Titan M secure element on Pixel devices," the tech giant said in a blog post published on Thursday. Moreover, if someone manages to achieve the same in the developer preview versions of Android, Google will pay an additional $500,000, making the total to $1.5 million—that's 7.5 times more than the previous top Android reward. Introduced within the Pixel 3 smartphones last year, Google's Titan M secure element is a dedicated security chip that sits alongside the main processor, primarily designed to protect devices against the boot-time attacks. In other words, Titan M chip
First week at MEGA Bounty Program, paid out thousands of dollars for seven Bugs

First week at MEGA Bounty Program, paid out thousands of dollars for seven Bugs

Feb 11, 2013
One week after launching a Bug bounty program by the Kim Dotcom 's new file-storage and sharing service MEGA claims to have fixed seven vulnerabilities. Although Mega hasn't shared how much money and to whom it paid out in the first week. But as promised, it is clear that MEGA paid out thousands of dollars in bug bounties during the first week of its security program. We found bug hunter yesterday (tweeted)- Mr.  Frans Rosén received 1000 Euros in the bug fixing challenge. This tweet was also Re-tweeted by Kim Dotcom later, that confirmed Frans's class III bugs reward. Congratulations @ fransrosen for XSS in #MEGA . Handsome EUR 1000 in Bug Bounty Program twitter.com/fransrosen/sta… — The Hacker News™ (@TheHackersNews) February 10, 2013 In a blog post, Mega explained how it classifies vulnerabilities and their impacts. Vulnerabilities were classified into VI classes, with I being the lowest risk and VI being the highest. Seven qualified bug details are as shown b
Etsy for iPhone loophole allows attacker to hijack Accounts

Etsy for iPhone loophole allows attacker to hijack Accounts

Dec 15, 2012
Mohamed Ramadan from Attack-Secure discovered a critical vulnerability in Etsy's iPhone application. Etsy is a social commerce website focused on handmade or vintage items as well as art and craft supplies. Any attacker on the same network can sniff traffic (including user password) invisibly without any warning from Etsy app. Its is very similar to the man in the middle attack reported in iPhone Instagram app a few days back. Bug Hunting ! Because Etsy having a Security Bug Bounty Program , so first Mohamed was trying to find a vulnerability in Etsy website , later he found that they have enough good security. Because Etsy mobile apps are eligible in bug bounty program, so next try was on Mobile apps. Mohamed finally  downloaded the latest version 2.2 and installed that on his iPhone 4S with iOS 6 and also on his ipad. Then he configured his Burp Suite proxy 1.5 to listen on all interfaces on port 8080 in invisible mode.  He disabled any firewall and con
Hack Windows 8.1 to earn $100,000 bounty from Microsoft

Hack Windows 8.1 to earn $100,000 bounty from Microsoft

Jun 25, 2013
If you don't know yet, Microsoft is offerings up to $100,000 in exchange for finding vulnerabilities and exploits in the upcoming Windows 8.1 Preview which is expected to launch on June 26, the same time as the Microsoft Build Developer Conference. Qualifying submissions with accompanying defensive ideas will also be eligible for a BlueHat Bonus worth up to $50,000. " These are super challenging to discover and they require a new technique ," says Mike Reavey, director of Microsoft's Security Response Center. Windows 8.1 is a major update to Microsoft's brand new operating system Windows 8, and given the serious bounty on offer, Microsoft clearly wants to leave nothing to chance as far as securing the operating system is concerned. " Learning about new exploitation techniques earlier helps Microsoft improve security by leaps, instead of capturing one vulnerability at a time as a traditional bug bounty alone would ," he said. Microsoft's senior s
Facebook Awards $50,000 Under Its New 'Internet Defense Prize' Program

Facebook Awards $50,000 Under Its New 'Internet Defense Prize' Program

Aug 22, 2014
Along with a dream to make Internet access available to everyone across the world, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is working to make the Internet a more secure place as well. Till now, a number of large technology companies have bug bounty programs to reward researchers and cyber enthusiast who contribute in the security of Internet by finding out security holes in software or web platforms, and the social networking giant Facebook is the latest one to do so. Facebook and Usenix have together implemented the Internet Defense Prize — an award recognizing superior quality research that combines a working prototype with great contributions to securing the Internet, Facebook announced Thursday at the annual USENIX Security Symposium in San Diego. Also, Facebook announced the first award under its Internet Defense Prize, and crowned a pair of German researchers for their paper , " Static Detection of Second-Order Vulnerabilities in Web Applications " — a seemingly viabl
In-Brief: Spotify Hack, Secret of Chrome OS, MIT Bug Bounty, Nanowire Batteries

In-Brief: Spotify Hack, Secret of Chrome OS, MIT Bug Bounty, Nanowire Batteries

Apr 26, 2016
1. Spotify Hacked! Change your Password ASAP If you are one of the millions of people around the world who love to listen to music on Spotify, you may need to change your password immediately. Has Spotify been hacked? The company says no, but some Spotify users have claimed their profiles were hijacked, and details were changed without knowledge, including passwords and email addresses, TC  reported . Spotify apparently suffered a security breach that leaked hundreds of Spotify accounts details, including emails, usernames, passwords and account type, which was published last week to the popular anonymous file sharing website Pastebin. Spotify is investigating the Pastebin leaks of Spotify user information. 2. Over 1 Million Android Apps Are Coming to Chrome OS Google is ready to integrate millions of Android applications onto its Chrome OS platform by bringing the entire Play Store to it. Redditor 'TheWiseYoda' first spotted a new option to "Enable And
ChatGPT Security: OpenAI's Bug Bounty Program Offers Up to $20,000 Prizes

ChatGPT Security: OpenAI's Bug Bounty Program Offers Up to $20,000 Prizes

Apr 13, 2023 Software Security / Bug Hunting
OpenAI, the company behind the massively popular ChatGPT AI chatbot, has launched a  bug bounty program  in an attempt to ensure its systems are "safe and secure." To that end, it has partnered with the crowdsourced security platform  Bugcrowd  for independent researchers to report vulnerabilities discovered in its product in exchange for rewards ranging from "$200 for low-severity findings to up to $20,000 for exceptional discoveries." It's worth noting that the program does not cover  model safety or hallucination issues , wherein the chatbot is prompted to generate malicious code or other faulty outputs. The company noted that "addressing these issues often involves substantial research and a broader approach." Other prohibited categories are denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, brute-forcing OpenAI APIs, and demonstrations that aim to destroy data or gain unauthorized access to sensitive information beyond what's necessary to highlight the prob
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