Google Has $2 Million In Prize Money On Hand For Hackers Who Find Flaws In Chrome

Google has awarded a teenage hacker known as "Pinky Pie" $60,000 for fixing a security flaw in its Chrome browser.

Little has been revealed about exactly what the exploit took advantage of, probably because Google doesn't want the exploits to be publicized. But if you're the technical type, there is a complicated explanation over at the Google Chrome Release Blog.

Pinky Pie discovered the first Chrome browser vulnerability yesterday at the Hack In The Box conference, currently taking place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The $60,000 award comes from Google's $2 million budget of prize money for hackers who find security vulnerabilities specifically in its Chrome web browser.

Google has a nice scale for how it will distribute the $2 million bug bounty.

TechCrunch explains that, $60,000 is reserved for those who find “full Chrome exploits.” $50,000 is offered for partial exploits, and $40,000 for non-Chrome exploits – such as, other bugs found in Flash, Windows, or a driver that are not necessarily specific to Chrome, but could cause issues for users.

Cash awards aren't a first for the search giant. Google has been offering rewards for those discovering security vulnerabilities and other bugs for some time now.

via: http://www.businessinsider.com/google-awards-hacker-60k-2012-10#ixzz290yheL5x