In the news recently have
been a breach or breakin of one internet
website or another. In the last few weeks, we have first heard about LinkedIn,
then eHarmony and then Last.fm. It is no wonder than, that companies with a
major web presence, have started taking counter measures. Facebook, the major social networking website,
has started a “bug bounty” program
where it actually pays hackers who detected
security flaws with its systems.
So Far, Facebook has paid $40,000 to people who have
identified a weakness of the website. About 50 people have been acknowledged in Facebook’s whitehat section (a section designated
for a good hacker) for identifying
problems related to the website. Facebook is not the first company to do this. Google
and Mozilla also have similar programs for rewarding hackers that identify vulnerabilities
in their systems. It is like they say if
you can’t beat them, hire them.
