Google has been offering prize money for finding vulnerabilities in the Chrome browser and Chrome OS through the Chrome Rewards program since 2010. The company has now increased the bounty for Chromebook and Chromebox hacks from last year's $50,000 to $100,000, which is still less than the $150,000 that was on offer for the same compromise scenario at Pwnium three years ago.
The Chrome Rewards program is Google's initiative for finding bugs in its browser, similar to Microsoft's 'bug bounty' for Edge. The rewards range from $500 to $100,000 depending on the nature of the reported bug.
The top prize is reserved for the person who can compromise a Chromebook or Chromebox with a persistent code in Guest Mode. What this means is that the code should be able to exploit the vulnerability even if the machine is rebooted. Google has revealed that it did not receive any successful submissions for the top prize in the last year.
In addition to increasing the prize money, Google has introduced a new reward for hacks that can bypass Chrome’s Safe Browsing download protection features.
Those who wish to know more about the program should check out the Chrome Rewards site. It should also be noted that the company has a similar program for reporting vulnerabilities in its services as well, which can be found at the Vulnerability Reward Program site.
