As malware is increasing in Android based smart phones and risking it, google has announced prize money of 2 lakh dollar for those hackers who will find bug in android operating system. Days after a malware called “Judy” hit over 36.5 million Android-based phones, Google has now increased the bounty for finding a bug in Android OS to as much as $2,00,000, a media report has said.
Android is known for its poor security issues, especially with the older versions of the OS. Although, the latest build of Android are vastly secure than what Google was putting out on smartphones years ago, it still has not managed to found the largest bug on the software. As a result, the company has increased the reward value of its “bug bounty” program to as much as $200,000, hoping to attract more software engineers and researchers.
Dozens of malicious apps were downloaded between 4.5 million to 18.5 million times from the Play Store. Some of the malware-affected apps have been discovered residing on the online store for several years.
“Judy” is one such case of how an open and free mobile operating system (OS) can be exploited by malicious app developers. Google has now removed the infected apps from the PlayStore. Technology companies such as Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and Google have paid out millions of dollars in bug bounty programs over the past few years.