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Facebook Paid $10,000 To A 10-Year-Old For Hacking Instagram (thenextweb.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Facebook has paid $10,000 to a 10-year-old hacker who discovered how one could hack into Instagram and delete comments made by users. Speaking to local publication Iltalehti, Jani said: "I would have been able to eliminate anyone, even Justin Bieber." The Finnish hacker just became the youngest person to receive cash from Facebook for hacking its products. The previous record was set by a 13-year-old back in 2013. What's funny is Jani isn't technically old enough to sign-up and use Facebook or Instagram, as it's supposed to be restricted to those under the age of 13. Jani found he could alter code on Instagram's servers and force-delete users' posts. This was confirmed by Facebook using a test account and patched in February, Facebook told Forbes. Facebook has received more than 2,400 valid submissions and awarded upwards of $4.3 million to over 800 researchers since the bounty program launched in 2011.
Any one know how or what the vector or method might be?
A 10yo with god level access to social media made me think of this...
Locke and Demosthenes
"I would have been able to eliminate anyone, even Justin Bieber."
ah hell, i would have paid him $20K if he actually had. *sigh*
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
Well, it can entertain entertain someone and make this someone less bored and productive, as well, its a quite fun story.
But seems like it did the opposite effect on you.
Frankly, this is smart on Facebook's part... For $10K they avoided a serious flaw in their systems that they didn't catch. Had they not offered the money, he might not have told them.
Or he might have, but better safe than sorry.
10 years old? Sheesh, Facebook should hire the kid! :)
How does a 10 year old getting paid $10k by Facebook affect my life or most people's lives in any significant manner? I'd really like to know.
Again, I would ask why you think it matters to anyone that you, personally, aren't interested in this particular story.
Slashdot isn't here to cater to your personal tastes. If you're not interested in a particular story, just ignore it, you moron.
I expect I'll be downmodded into the oblivion of -1 because nobody can give me a good answer.
No, you'll get downmodded because it's a stupid question from an idiot.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
That's approaching Microsoft's territory.. and their codebase is substantially larger and more complex. How are those H1-B workers doing, Mark? Getting what you're paying for?
Really nice of them. Still, fuck FB and the sick privacy-chewing pony Zuck came in on.
then lock him up for twenty without parole. He's a hacker, it's the law!
Why should the news only deliver stories that specifically and meaningfully impact your life? Nobody really cares.
I expect I'll be downmodded because in the time it takes to refute such a stupid argument someone could have done something more productive, like defecating or trimming the hedges. I'm prepared for nobody to reply to me because you're a much better troll than me. I expect this as much because not replying to me instantly implies that you're gay and love socialism and support child molestors (citation needed).
Can anyone give me an answer why the news should only deliver stories that cater specifically to what this one individual want to see? I don't think you can.
That's more than 1 a day. Maybe Facebook should improve their software development.
And with 1 security issue a day do you really want to put your "private" info on that system.
No. The post was modded down because "how does this affect my tiny little world" is your version of "Frosty Piss".
You already know the answer: "Nobody cares whether this affects you or not, because nobody cares about you in general."
Good bye. I'll read you again when you manage to reach a (Score:1)
well, it seems he didn't actually need to have a FB or Instagram account to do any of this, so perhaps he never even had an account on either.
> it's supposed to be restricted to those under the age of 13
Is this an Anglicanism I don't know about? In U.S. English, "restricted to" means "only allowed for," e.g. "R-rated movies are restricted to viewers over 17." Viewers under 17 are restricted from viewing them.
TFA gave a lot of useless information and stats but nothing actually of interest.
How did he do it seems like a more appropriate question.
Sadly after Finnish taxes that's more like $4000...
Also is int that bit embarrassing for big tech company that even kid can literally hack it?
Slashdot isn't here to cater to your personal tastes. If you're not interested in a particular story, just ignore it, you moron.
Yes, you are right of course. The users of a site (that is - the only ones who give that site any ability to make money via ads and paid accounts) should never, ever question any decision made by that site. They should certainly never question such things using the most reasonable and effective means available to them - by posting on that site using the Post button provided by the site itself. I mean, they should never get so carried away as to do something so strange and extreme!
By the way, you could apply your own logic about stories that get posted, to the comments that get posted. Perhaps posters of comments also aren't here to cater to your personal tastes, or your personal ideas of what they should or shouldn't post about. You could have ignored that.
Does that make you a moron? Or are you somehow ... a special case?
You made a stupid and pointless comment, and now you're upset that some people think that? Stories that should be questioned have no relevance to technology, and this most certainly does. You haven't even backed up your point at all besides "eh, I don't like it", and guess what, that's not a good reason for a public newsfeed. Furthermore, you don't have the right to challenge him, because you begged the question:
Can anyone give me a good answer as to how this affects anyone other than the 10 year old? I don't think you can.
He was responding to your invitation, so don't even start that he should ignore you. Furthermore, as an anon, you clearly checked back to see if he wrote because you wouldn't get a notification - so not only do you care enough to read the story, not only do you care enough to write an irate comment, but you cared enough to check back and see if anyone had responded. Let's all be honest here, you're a cranky person suffering from a hangover and came here looking to pick a fight, not to contribute anything to the discussion.
"Set a man a fire, he'll be warm for the rest of the night. Set a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life."
place - that they don't have to hire anyone. It's another form of temp worker program. They don't owe benefits don't owe pension or 401k matching nor do they even have the possibility of being sued despite the kid being too young to work basically anywhere.
How much would they have paid a professional security firm or on staff IT to audit them and get this result?
You know that cows guy? After like 10 years of reading this site, I think it finally hit me - you're all fucking cows! No human would argue such ridiculous shit on the Internet when they have much better human things to do.
Would this kind of activity become illegal under TPP? Not just this particular example, but Facebook's bounty program in general? If the kid is from a country that refuses to sign TPP, could he still be prosecuted?
Pro tip. Create an account and log in to post. For many (perhaps most or even all) people, posts by ACs start at -1. This is sensible since most AC posts are completely worthless. Since there is really nothing in your post to suggest it should be significantly modded up, you are likely stuck in that hole.
Your post started at -1 because like so many others you are a coward.
how they pay some while deny others
Do you use Facebook? If so, you're entrusting data to a system written by people who write code that a 10-year-old can compromise.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Cheap Bastards.
"The ferrets, they're every where I tell you!"
It's amazing when you observe how people behave. It really truly is. You just provided a good example.
Generally people will come up with any and every reason for why their own logic should not be applied to themselves. You can especially witness this in people with even a little authority (gov't or corporate). Do as I say, not as I do. What's good for the goose is not good for the gander. Somehow when I do the same thing, well now that's completely different. When you call them on it, all sorts of hand-waving follows, anything other than "say that's a good point". People have egos, which is one thing - people tend to love their egos more than the truth, which is the cause of the problem.
Most people are like this, so they will naturally tend to support others who are like this. It reinforces and legitimizes the behavior to see others doing it. Being a weakness, it does need this kind of support. So the mods support you too and moderate accordingly, as if that "proves" that one's own logic should not apply to oneself, as if the person who questions that is somehow the problem. Why? Because that's uncomfortable?
Just consider - how often do you see anyone here say something like "wow that's a great point, I was totally mistaken" and then stop with the old view? You generally don't. Which explanation do you find more plausible: everyone here is always correct and never fails to catch their own flaws - or - hypocrisy is a problem and tends to reinforce itself? One of those explanations is possible, the other is not. But whatever. Mod me down too, that'll fix it up. I might be Anonymous but you, sir, are the real coward.
Sorry, but I just don't buy that a 10 year old found this. I would bet money that daddy or mommy is the one that found the issue and they submitted it through the kid to make the kid seem brilliant. Got the kid an instant 15 minutes of fame anyway.
Perhaps now they can pay someone how to figure out why you cannot Block Upvote Farmers nor Report them.or Scammers or Fake News Articles.
He could have contributed massively to the betterment of mankind by eradicating one of the scourges of our time. Instead he took the measly 10K.
What a prick.
Proofread your summaries before posting them. Twice. Thanks.
Then put the innards into a suitcase. That would have gotten him a scholarship offer from MIT and an invitation to the White House.