Google has rewarded an Indore-based Indian techie Aman Pandey for his contributions in making the Android safer. Aman Pandey, Founder and CEO of BugsMirror, has received a hefty monetary amount from Google. He was named the top researcher in 2021 by Google’s Android Vulnerabilities Rewards Programme after he reported and submitted a total of 232 vulnerabilities last year. Under this programme, Google offers monetary rewards to researchers from all across the world, for finding problems in its software.
Google applauded Pandey’s efforts in a blog post and highlighted that the cyber security expert has reported over 280 vulnerabilities so far.
Many news portal reported that Aman received Rs. 65 Crores. However, the fact is that $8.7 million (i.e. Rs. 65 Crore) was the total amount paid by Google under this programme in 2021.
Who is Aman Pandey?
Aman Pandey is the founder and CEO of the Indore-based IT firm, BugsMirror. BugsMirror works in the field of Android research and development. It helps companies enhance their security systems by finding all kinds of security vulnerabilities.
According to the company’s website, “Data theft has been a major issue in recent times.” The company works by pointing out these issues to the concerned team in return for remuneration.
A graduate from NIT Bhopal, Pandey registered the company last year. However, he had been working on the project for 3 years before the registration of the company.
Also Read: Ashneer Grover of Shark Tank India Claims Indians World’s “Most Spoilt Customers”
What is Google’s Vulnerability Rewards Programme?
Launched in 2010, Google’s Vulnerability Rewards Programme is an attempt to make the software safer. Under this programme, security experts from across the world are rewarded for finding and reporting vulnerabilities to Google.
The tech giant offers anywhere between $500 (₹37, 836) to $30, 000 (₹2.2 lakh). Last year, a total of 696 security experts from across 62 countries, were rewarded under this programme.
Other tech giants, such as Facebook and Microsoft, also have their own bug bounty programmes.
Google Doubled the Rewards in 2021
The company spent a whopping $8.7 million last year in rewards under this programme while $30,000 of the rewards were voluntarily donated by the researchers to a charity of their choice. According to them, the pay-out doubled in 2021 compared to 2020.
A record of $157, 000 was awarded in 2021 to an entity for discovering an exploit chain in the Android. It also rewarded around 115 Chrome VRP researchers for reporting 333 bugs last year.
Moreover, a new website has been developed by the company for bug hunters to simplify the process of reporting security bugs. In this, all of Google’s Vulnerability Rewards Programmes have been brought together in one place. Other such programmes cover Google, Android, Abuse, Chrome and Google Play.
Indians Rewarded in the Past
This is not the first time an Indian techie has been rewarded by Google.
Last year, Rony Das was awarded ₹3.5 lakh for reporting vulnerabilities in Android’s Foreground Services. Sohom Datta, a second-year engineering student, also received a sum of ₹2 lakh when he discovered bugs in Google Products. Rahul Singh (₹3.8 lakh), Hemanth Joseph (₹5.66 lakh) and Vishnu Prasad (₹8.7 lakh) are other Indian names included in the list.
Follow Us on Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
