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Uber launches bug bounty program with top prize of $10,000

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Uber is the latest company to launch its own bug bounty program for white hat hackers with rewards of up to $10,000 for discovering serious flaws.

From May 1, security researchers will have three months to research and disclose any vulnerabilities they can find in Uber’s websites and apps. Uber is making public what it calls a “treasure map” of its code to help security researchers examine the code for any issues. The bug bounty program was previously in beta but will now be open to anyone to try.

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Multiple bugs found will result in bonus rewards to encourage hackers to stay loyal to Uber and continue scrutinizing its security for the better. Some of the vulnerabilities it is looking for include cross-site scripting and SQL injection.

Hackers will have to privately disclose their findings to Uber and only after the bug has been patched will the details be made public.

Critical vulnerabilities will pay $10,000, and include things like remote code execution or exposing user data. “Significant issues” such as cross-site scripting and failed authentication features will pay $5,000, while “medium issues” will pay $3,000 for less serious bugs that don’t expose any personal identifiable information (PII) on users.

The bug bounty program comes after Uber experienced its fair share of security problems. A 2014 data breach exposed 50,000 Uber drivers’ personal details. The company failed to act on it for months and ultimately paid a $20,000 fine in the state of New York. The source of the breach even led to accusations involving Uber’s competitors.

Meanwhile compromised user accounts have been spotted on the dark Web selling for as little as a $1 apiece with few details on how exactly they were breached. Finally, in an embarrassing episode in January the personal information, including a social security number, of one Uber driver in Florida was accidentally sent out to thousands of other drivers.

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Jonathan Keane
Jonathan Keane
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Jonathan is a freelance technology journalist living in Dublin, Ireland. He's previously written for publications and sites…
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