Google guves Rs 71 lakh to Chinese researchers for Pixel devices

Google awarded over USD 112,000 to a Chinese security researcher for reporting an exploit in Google Pixel smartphones.

The Android security team posted in the Google developers forum that Guang Gong of Alpha Team, Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. had submitted a working remote exploit chain in August 2017. This was the first such exploit since the expansion of Android Security Rewards (ASR) program.

“For his detailed report, Gong was awarded USD 105,000, which is the highest reward in the history of the ASR program and USD 7,500 by Chrome Rewards program for a total of USD 112,500,” Mayank Jain and Scott Roberts wrote for the Android security team.

Gong in a blog post also outlined the bugs he and his team discovered.

The issues reported by Gong and others as well were resolved as part of the December 2017 monthly security update. The company thanked researcher community for their contributions.

All pixel devices will automatically install these updates however the users need to restart their devices to complete the installation.

The internet giants through its Android security rewards program recognises the contributions of security researchers who invest their time and effort in identifying bugs and vulnerabilities. The program covers security vulnerabilities discovered in the latest available Android versions for Pixel phones and tablets. Currently, Pixel 2, Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel C are the devices under the program.

Last year, rewards were increased under the program. Rewards for a remote exploit chain or exploit leading to TrustZone or Verified Boot compromise was increased from USD 50,000 to USD 200,000. Whereas, rewards for a remote kernel exploit increase from USD 30,000 to USD 150,000.

Comments

Pinterest files for IPO, but avoids calling itself a social network

The latest Silicon Valley company to file for an initial public offering is Pinterest , the San Francisco-based social network and image board that in recent years has built a large advertising and commerce business from its growing user base. The company, although it is still not profitable, says it earned more than $750 million in revenue last year, and it’s cut its losses from nearly $200 million in 2016 down to just under $75 million annually. Pinterest says it was in fact profitable in the fourth quarter of 2018, but not profitable enough to get out of the red for the full calendar year. The company, headed up by original co-founder and CEO Ben Silbermann, plans to go public on the New York Stock Exchange. It joins ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft , on-demand delivery company Postmates , workplace communications platform Slack , and hotel and short-term home rental service Airbnb as one of the handful of Silicon Valley companies said to...

Apple records first-ever accident in self-driving car programme

The self-driving car was rear-ended while merging onto an expressway near the company’s Silicon Valley headquarters New York: An Apple Inc self-driving car was rear-ended while merging onto an expressway near the company’s Silicon Valley headquarters this month, the company said in an accident report posted on Friday that confirmed the iPhone maker is still in the race to build autonomous vehicles. Apple executives have never publicly spoken about the company’s self-driving car programme, but filings in a criminal court case last month confirmed that the company had at least 5,000 employees working on the project and that it was working on circuit boards and a “proprietary chip” related to self-driving cars. Apple is entering a crowded field where rivals such as Alphabet Inc’s Waymo unit and traditional carmakers such as General Motors Co’s Cruise Automation, as well as startups such as Silicon Valley’s Zoox, are pouring billions of dollars into cars that can drive the...

Huawei Employee Reportedly Reveals Android P Name, And It’s Not What You Think

It’s that time of the year when the world speculates on which dessert will be used as the name for the next Android version. While there have been several easter eggs and hints about Android P’s official name, there’s no clarity on what it might actually be called. According a report by Tabeltowo , a Huawei employee might have just leaked the full name of Android P as Android Pistachio. During a live chat with a customer, the Huawei support staff clearly said Android Pistachio in relation to a query about software updates in Poland, as seen in the image below: While simply Pistachio might not make sense to most people, considering the fact that Google is known for naming its Android version after desserts, a previous report might help. Back in February, Bloomberg had reported that Android P would be called Android Pistachio Ice Cream which makes more sense than just Pistachio. But we are sure you have other P-themed desserts in mind for...

Vc Tech

Search This Blog