Facebook logo (Photo : Reuters)
How can you earn $1.3 million by finding bugs at home? Last year that is the amount Facebook paid out to 321 hackers around the world, for its Bug Bounty program. They found security flaws in the software of the social network.
Facebook's security engineer, Collin Greene, wrote Wednesday in a blog post that the company is surprised each year about what the security community teaches it, according to Mercury News.
Facebook launched its Bug Bounty program in 2011. It gives monetary awards to people who report security issues to it.
Based on a 2014 Rand report, a rise in hackers who hack mobile devices and social networks is likely.
Interest in the bug-hunting programs seems to be increasing from last year. The 16 percent increase in reports submitted could be due to a report-writing guide that Facebook released last year.
The different security bugs that were reported have different effects. However, the number of major bugs that people are reporting to Facebook is rising.
Last year bug hunters found more serious security gaps. For example, hackers could view private messages of a user, and also post content on their timelines.
Hackers can also access a user's personal information that includes data such as their middle name and address. It is then much easier for them to find answers to questions, in order to verify someone's identity.
Last year the average reward payment that Facebook made for U.S. bugs was $2,470. However, the most valid bugs were reported in India (196), followed by Egypt.
The minimum award for reporting a valid security bug is $500. Also, there is no ceiling for an award payout.
The biggest bounty that Facebook paid was $30,000, in Lithuania. Meanwhile, the top earner in 2014 received a total of $86,000, according to eWeek.
Other online companies also have bug-bounty programs. In 2014, Google's program paid out $1.5 million.
