Google's Innovation: Enhanced Bug Bounty Program

Google 's Increased Bug Bounty Program

Google has recently announced a significant increase in payouts for bugs discovered in its systems and applications through its Vulnerability Reward Program . The new maximum bounty for a single security flaw has been raised to 51,515 , representing a fivefold increase from previous rewards . The tech giant stated that as their systems have become more secure over time , it has become increasingly challenging to find bugs , prompting the update in reward amounts.

Enhanced Rewards and Expanded Payment Options

The updated Reward Amounts section of the Google VRP rules outlines the changes in reward amounts and the new payout structure . For instance , the new highest reward now combines 01,010 for a Remote Code Execution ( RCE ) in their most sensitive products with a 1.5x modifier for exceptional report quality , resulting in the 51,515 maximum bounty . Starting from July 11th , only vulnerability reports submitted will be eligible for the new rewards table . Additionally , Google has expanded payment options , allowing security researchers the possibility of receiving payments through Bugcrowd.

Recent Developments and Past Rewards

In recent Google VRP developments , the company introduced kvmCTF , a new program focused on improving the security of the Kernel - based Virtual Machine ( KVM ) hypervisor . This initiative aims to address VM - reachable bugs in the KVM hypervisor and offers a substantial 50,000 bounty for full VM escape exploits . Furthermore , Google had tripled rewards for Chrome sandbox escape chain exploits until December 1st , 2023 , a year ago.

Since the launch of its Vulnerability Reward Program in 2010 , Google has paid out more than 0 million in bounties to security researchers who reported over 15,000 vulnerabilities . In the past year , the company paid a total of 0 million in rewards , with the highest individual payout amounting to 13,337 . Notably , the highest - ever VRP bounty of 05,000 was awarded to gzobqq in 2022 for identifying a series of five critical security bugs in an Android exploit chain . This same researcher had previously reported another significant Android exploit chain in 2021 , earning a 57,000 payout.