Now, all popular apps are covered under Google's bug bounty
What's the story
As the problem of shady malware in Android apps isn't coming to an end, Google is calling for external help. The search giant has expanded its bug bounty program to include all popular apps available on the Play Store. This means that the company will provide rewards if you manage to find bugs and other issues in these apps. Here's all about the program.
Program
Google Play Security Reward Program expanded
As part of the bug bounty effort, dubbed Google Play Security Reward Program, the search giant is offering cash rewards to developers unearthing issues in apps on the Play Store. Initially, the program included a fixed group of top eight apps but now that number has been expanded to all apps that have been installed more than 100 million times on Android phones.
Benefit #1
How much you could win from this program?
Going by media reports, developers discovering and reporting vulnerabilities in any of the eligible apps would be entitled to a prize of up to $20,000 (approximately Rs. 14 lakh) from Google. This would be a great opportunity to make money as well as to "help hundreds of organizations identify and fix vulnerabilities in their apps," a company spokesperson said while announcing the expanded program.
Benefit #2
Plus, you can claim bounties from app developers too
The best part about Google's bug bounty is the fact that developers will be able to bag rewards from two places - Google and the company whose software is being reported. To note, most companies also tend to run their own bug bounty programs so that developers can flag and report issues in time.
Data protection
Google is also running data protection reward program
In addition to the bug bounty, Google is also running a program for finding data abuse cases in apps and services. The program, dubbed Developer Data Protection Reward Program, will offer rewards up to $50,000 in case you find and report an Android app, OAuth project, or Chrome extension using or selling user data without permission.