Dive Brief:
- Google announced Monday that it will double its "bug bounty" reward for people that find serious security flaws in Chromebooks, the Chrome browser and Chrome OS.
- The top bounty will increase from $50,000 to $100,000 for the hacker that can work to successfully hack and seriously compromise a Chromebook.
- The company raised the bounty because it has yet to have a single successful submission.
Dive Insight:
Several large U.S. businesses have used bug bounty programs to help find holes in their network security before hackers do. Earlier this month, the Pentagon even joined in, saying it plans to invite hackers to test the cybersecurity of some public U.S. Department of Defense websites.
Some non-malicious, or white hat, hackers conduct security tests of organizations of their own volition. Last month, a white hat hacker discovered a vulnerability in a database belonging to uKnowKids, a firm that allows parents to track their kid's online activity.
Google has had a bug bounty program for Chrome in place since 2010. The company hopes that increasing the award for a successful submission will draw more interest.
"Great research deserves great awards, so we’re putting up a standing six-figure sum, available all year round with no quotas and no maximum reward pool," Google said in its announcement.
The Chrome operating system and Chromebooks have proven popular in schools, primarily because of their low cost. But buyers interested in low costs may not be as vigilant about security, Google reasons, which is partially why the company wants to ensure Chrome systems are air-tight when it comes to security.