Altcoin News: Coinbase Pays $30,000 Bounty Program Bonus

February 15, 2019, by Marko Vidrih on ALTCOIN MAGAZINE

The popular US crypto exchange Coinbase recently paid $30,000 to a hacker for a critical vulnerability on their platform. According to a company representative, this has already been resolved.

The vulnerability has already been eliminated

The vulnerability was discovered earlier this week as part of the Coinbase vulnerability disclosure program on HackerOne. HackerOne is a website where various companies pay White Hat Hackers for their help in solving security vulnerabilities. A spokesperson for the crypto exchange announced that the vulnerability has been eliminated.

Although no details have been disclosed about the vulnerability, the high $30,000 premium suggests that it may have been a severe vulnerability with serious consequences. The US-based crypto exchange has a four-tier reward system, ranging from $200 to $50,000, depending on the vulnerability.

The impact and recoverability are taken into account when determining the degree of Coinbase. To fix a bug, it must allow hackers to “read or modify sensitive data in a system, execute arbitrary code on the system, or filter digital or fiat currency in any way.”

Shortly after Coinbase Wallet introduced the option for Coinbase Wallet users to secure an encrypted copy of their private keys in the cloud (iCloud or Google Drive, depending on their operating system), the exchange paid the hacker.

After the recently found and allegedly eliminated problem is classified as critical, it will likely allow hackers to exploit it “one-sidedly”. There are no “significant roadblocks or special conditions” beyond their control. While this was the only major award given, Coinbase has handed out several smaller ones this week.

Bounty prizes in the field of cryptocurrencies are not new. Coinbase awarded a $10,000 hacker last year to find a bug that allowed users to reward themselves with unlimited etiquette.

Author: Marko Vidrih