iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
The US internet giant Google has lauded the efforts of an Indian cybersecurity researcher for reporting and submitting vulnerabilities in Android through the Google bug bounty project.
His efforts enabled Google to make the Android platform more safe and secure for its users. Google has now recognized Aman Pandey for his many accomplishments in making its website and services safe and secure for everyone.
This is essentially a part of Google’s bug bounty program, in which the company rewards security experts for finding problems in its software.
“Aman Pandey of the Bugsmirror Team has skyrocketed to our top researcher last year, submitting 232 vulnerabilities in 2021! Since submitting their first report in 2019, Aman has reported over 280 valid vulnerabilities to the Android VRP and has been a crucial part of making our program so successful,” Google announced this while praising a prominent researcher for his work in keeping Android safe and secure.
Bugsmirror, set out of Indore has been founded by Aman Pandey (who is also the CEO of the company). He graduated from NIT Bhopal. And even though the company was only set up in 2021, the company has been instrumental in finding vulnerabilities as early as 2019.
Google’s Sarah Jacobus, from the Vulnerability Rewards Team, highlighted that ever since Pandey submitted his first report all the way back in 2019, he has managed to report over 280 vulnerabilities to the Android Vulnerabilities Rewards Program, while also being a crucial part in making the program so successful.
Google has also paid a whopping $8.7 million in vulnerability rewards. Security researchers of the firm have reported vulnerabilities not just in Android but also in Google Chrome, Search, Play and other products too.
Jacobus highlighted that the maximum reward was offered for vulnerabilities spotted on Android. In fact, the payouts doubled in 2021 from 2020 with nearly $3 million in rewards. Moreover, Google awarded the highest payout in VRP history in 2021 for an exploit chain discovered in Android that received a reward of $157,000.
Around 115 Chrome VRP researchers were rewarded for 333 unique Chrome security bug reports submitted in 2021, totaling $2.2 million in VRP rewards. Of the total $3.3 million, $3.1 million was awarded for Chrome browser security bugs and $250,000 for Chrome OS bugs.