Most of the companies pay those who find loop holes in their systems but Facebook has decided to compensate the bug hunters in a more unique way and their compensation is not just a check. Facebook is giving these security researchers customized Visa Debit Cards labelled White Hat Bug Bounty Program.
Security researchers can make thousands of dollars just by reporting the glitches and loop holes in the social networking site. They have been given these White Hat Bug Bounty Program cards which they can use just like other credit and debit cards. As they find more bugs in the site, more money is added to their accounts by Facebook. Facebook wanted to do something unusual and special for those people who help in making its software stronger and malware free.
Ryan McGeehan, the manager of Facebook’s Security response told CNET that Facebook values the rare geniuses who find bugs and help in upping its security and thus rewarding them in a unique way is just a gesture to acknowledge them. This card would act like a medal to say that this person did something special for Facebook.
This bug bounty program was launched by Facebook in July last year following the footsteps of Mozilla and Google. A researcher is paid a minimum $500 if the bug cited is confirmed and there is no upper limit defined. A researcher has to follow a policy called Facebook’s Responsible Disclosure Policy and must not report the vulnerability to the public until and unless the bug is fixed.
The card issued by Facebook may not only be a cash card but as its name says, it would be a real bounty. A researcher may be able to get into a party or a conference by using it as a pass. The highest pay out for a bug researcher has been $5000 and as per McGeehan, this pay out hasn’t been for one person. As many as 81 people have been paid as much for reporting bugs. Recently, a bug reporter said that he didn’t want the card and instead wanted the money ($2500) to go for charity. Recipients of this unique bounty bug programs include a junior student of Brown University who will intern at Facebook this summer.
Facebook has bigger plans than just to give incentives to the bug hunters. It plans on employing these researchers into finding bugs in their new products as soon as they are in production so that Facebook can get an early warning.
