In an effort to improve the security of 3DS, Nintendo is paying hackers to provide information about vulnerabilities in its family of handheld systems.

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Through HackerOne —a platform for coordinating and offering bounties for providing vulnerability and bug information—Nintendo is offering cash rewards that range between $100 to $20,000 USD for reports of 3DS vulnerabilities.According to Nintendo's HackerOne "Bug Bounty Program" page , the company is strictly interested in receiving information tied to 3DS, with the desire to prevent various activities, including piracy, cheating, and the "dissemination of inappropriate content to children."The size of the reward is contingent upon "the importance of the information and the quality of the report." The more severe the vulnerability, the higher the reward. Only one reward will be given for each qualifying vulnerability that is reported.Nintendo is gearing up to release a new console called the Nintendo Switch this coming March . While the system will function as both a home console and portable, the company says it has no plans to discontinue 3DS anytime soon

Alex Osborn is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter