Google Paid $8.7 Million in Bug Bounties Last Year
Bug bounty programs have become an essential tool in the security arsenal of every large company out there, as researchers are therefore encouraged to submit their findings in exchange for financial rewards that are often pretty compelling.
Google, for example, paid no less than $8.7 million in bug bounties 2021, according to the company, as the program has reached a new record. The highest reward last year was $157,000, with Google issuing various bounties to a total of 696 researchers based in 62 countries. As far as Android itself is concerned, the operating system accounted for over $2.9 million of all rewards, with the highest bounty reaching $157,000.
“The Android VRP doubled its 2020 total payouts in 2021 with nearly $3 million dollars in rewards, and awarded the highest payout in Android VRP history: an exploit chain discovered in Android receiving a reward of $157,000! Our industry leading prize of $1,500,000 for a compromise of our Titan-M Security chip used in our Pixel device remains unclaimed - for more information on this reward and Android exploit chain rewards, please visit our public rules page,” Google explained.
