Bug hunters have made a total of $410,000 (258,900) in the last year after sending in their findings to Google.
Over 1,100 flaws have been found in Google-owned software since the tech giant launched its vulnerability report programme in November 2010.
Of those, 730 merited a monetary reward. Google sought to distance itself from insecure design claims, saying around half of the bugs that received a reward were in software written by around 50 companies it had acquired.
"The rest were distributed across applications developed by Google (several hundred new ones each year). Significantly, the vast majority of our initial bug reporters had never filed bugs with us before we started offering monetary rewards," said Adam Mein, technical program manager for the Google Security Team, in a blog post.
"It's not all about money, though. Google has gotten better and stronger as a result of this work. We get more bug reports, which means we get more bug fixes, which means a safer experience for our users."
Other tech giants have kicked off similar reward schemes. Facebook launched its own initiative in the second half of last year. Within just three weeks the social network handed out $40,000 to researchers.
"Over time, these programs can help companies build better relationships with the security research community," Mein added. "As the model replicates, the opportunity to improve the overall security of the web broadens."
The substantial money handed out to researchers is proof that a job in the security industry can be lucrative. Yet there is a lack of security skills in the UK.
Read on for our report on how the UK is striving to solve the security skills crisis.
-
What does modern security success look like for financial services?Sponsored As financial institutions grapple with evolving cyber threats, intensifying regulations, and the limitations of ageing IT infrastructure, the need for a resilient and forward-thinking security strategy has never been greater
-
Yes, legal AI. But what can you actually do with it? Let’s take a look…Sponsored Legal AI is a knowledge multiplier that can accelerate research, sharpen insights, and organize information, provided legal teams have confidence in its transparent and auditable application
-
Critical Dell Storage Manager flaws could let hackers access sensitive data – patch nowNews A trio of flaws in Dell Storage Manager has prompted a customer alert
-
Flaw in Lenovo’s customer service AI chatbot could let hackers run malicious code, breach networksNews Hackers abusing the Lenovo flaw could inject malicious code with just a single prompt
-
Industry welcomes the NCSC’s new Vulnerability Research Initiative – but does it go far enough?News The cybersecurity agency will work with external researchers to uncover potential security holes in hardware and software
-
Hackers are targeting Ivanti VPN users again – here’s what you need to knowNews Ivanti has re-patched a security flaw in its Connect Secure VPN appliances that's been exploited by a China-linked espionage group since at least the middle of March.
-
Broadcom issues urgent alert over three VMware zero-daysNews The firm says it has information to suggest all three are being exploited in the wild
-
Nakivo backup flaw still present on some systems months after firms’ ‘silent patch’, researchers claimNews Over 200 vulnerable Nakivo backup instances have been identified months after the firm silently patched a security flaw.
-
Everything you need to know about the Microsoft Power Pages vulnerabilityNews A severe Microsoft Power Pages vulnerability has been fixed after cyber criminals were found to have been exploiting unpatched systems in the wild.
-
Vulnerability management complexity is leaving enterprises at serious riskNews Fragmented data and siloed processes mean remediation is taking too long
