It seems that security holes in smartphones are making a lot of money, recently a company guaranteed 500.000 USD for those who have security holes in WhatsApp, now Samsung makes an offer for its smartphones.
A Samsung just launched a program called “Mobile Security Rewards Program“, In which it intends to reward users who find and report security breaches to Samsung.
Conditions:
In order to be eligible, the equipment must be up to date, both at firmware as services, and not all sorts of flaws found will be eligible after appreciation by Samsung.
It will not apply to all branded services and products, being restricted to 38 mobile device models. Among the models covered by the program, we find devices:
- Galaxy S series (S8, S8 +, S8, S7, S7, S7, S6, S6, S6,
- Galaxy Note series (Note 8, Note Note, Note 5, Note 4, Note edge)
- Galaxy A series (A3 (2016), A3 (2017), A5 (2016), A5 (2017), A7 (2017))
- Galaxy J series (J1), J2016 Mini, J1 Mini, J1 (1), J2 (2016), J3 (2016), J3 (2017), J3 J3 (5), J2016 (5), J2017 Max, J7 Neo, J2016 Pop)
- Galaxy Tab series (Tab S2 L Refresh, Tab S3 9.7)
After being evaluated by Samsung, which promises to do so in less than 48 hours, the glitches will be cataloged at levels of relevancy and the rewards could range from 200 dollars to 200 thousand dollars, depending on the severity degree of the reported failure.
What is the purpose of this program?
The program aims to find security breaches that compromise the integrity and data of its customers, in their products and services, Samsung Pay e Bixby are some examples, not being applicable to core operating system failures, which in this case should be reported to Google. In addition, the company states that failures should not require physical access to third-party equipment or applications.
It is important to point out that this type of "bug-hunting" program is not uncommon, with several companies already having identical programs, Google, Facebook, Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), e Microsoft.
