Facebook Awards Rs 3.5 Lakh to Indian For Finding WhatsApp Bug
The latest bug discovery was reported to the social networking giant who responded almost within a day.
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Video editor: S Aadeetya
Facebook has honoured a Manipuri man for discovering a WhatsApp bug that violated the privacy of a user. Zonel Sougaijam, a 22-year-old civil engineer, said that the social media giant awarded $5000 (Rs 3,50,000 approx) to him and also included him in the 'Facebook Hall of Fame 2019', for detecting the WhatsApp bug.
Sougaijam's name is currently at the 16 position in a list of 94 people, in the 'Facebook Hall of Fame' for this year.
"During a voice call through WhatsApp, the bug used to allow the caller to upgrade it to a video call without the authorisation and knowledge of the receiver. The caller was then able to see what the other person was doing, violating the privacy of the receiver," Sougaijam told PTI.
After discovering the bug, Sougaijam said, he had reported the matter to the Bug Bounty Program of the Facebook, which deals with violation of privacy matters, in March.
He said his report was acknowledged by the Facebook Security team the very next day and its technical department fixed the bug within 15-20 days.
"After reviewing this issue, we have decided to award you a bounty of $5000," Facebook said in an e-mail sent to Sougaijam. The 22-year-old Manipur youth spoke to host of media houses in Guwahati on 10 June, Monday this week, who is reportedly pursuing his B.Tech from Punjab Technical University.
The youth said he found his name in the Facebook ' Hall of Fame' page this month and got to know about the acknowledgement by the Facebook Security team through Gmail the very next day.
Facebook, owned by Mark Zuckerberg, purchased the messaging service WhatsApp for a staggerring 19 billion USD in February 2014
(With PTI inputs)
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