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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.
"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.
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! :)
> 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.