Facebook flaw finders offered rewards

Facebook has launched a security bug bounty programme to reward researchers for making the social network a safer place.

Various Web 2.0 giants offer similar rewards for flaw finders, with Google handing out many monetary prizes for disclosure of bug information.

"This is another way that we would like to show our appreciation to the security researchers who help us keep Facebook safe and secure for everyone," Facebook said.

Facebook has created a new whitehat portal where it outlines the company's responsible disclosure policy.

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"If you give us a reasonable time to respond to your report before making any information public and make a good faith effort to avoid privacy violations, destruction of data and interruption or degradation of our service during your research, we will not bring any lawsuit against you or ask law enforcement to investigate you," the social network said.

Facebook said a typical bounty would be $500 (304), but for certain bugs the reward would be higher. Only one bounty will be awarded per bug.

Bugs in third-party applications do not apply as Mark Zuckerburg's firm only wants to be notified of vulnerabilities which "could compromise the integrity or privacy of Facebook user data."

In particular, Facebook called for info on cross-site scripting flaws and remote code injection vulnerabilities.

Last month, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer had its Facebook page hacked, with hacktivist group The Script Kiddies claiming responsibility.

Tom Brewster is currently an associate editor at Forbes and an award-winning journalist who covers cyber security, surveillance, and privacy. Starting his career at ITPro as a staff writer and working up to a senior staff writer role, Tom has been covering the tech industry for more than ten years and is considered one of the leading journalists in his specialism.

He is a proud alum of the University of Sheffield where he secured an undergraduate degree in English Literature before undertaking a certification from General Assembly in web development.