Alphabet is Ending the Google Play Security Reward Program [Android News Byte]

Published: 19 August 2024
on channel: Explaining Android

260

After 7 years, the company is ending the program that helped to keep popular apps secure.

~~~~~
Hi! Don't forget to like the video, subscribe to the channel, and hit the "Thanks" button on this video, if you can, and join our channel community here - / @explainingandroid

Mentioned Links
~~~~
Report - / the-google-play-secruity-reward-program-to...

Video Description
~~~~~
Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to another edition of the Android News Byte.

#android #googleplay #playstore

Today, I wanted to highlight news of an important security reward program coming to and end.

7 years ago, Alphabet launched the Google Play Security Reward Program as a way to make sure popular Android apps were not vulnerable to compromising your device.

The program was rather limited at launch, but quickly expanded to cover more and more applications. Then, in 2019, it was expanded again to cover any application with over 100 million installations.

Rewards were also bumped up to a maximum of $20,000 for remote code execution bugs. . .and $3,000 for bugs that enabled the theft of insecure private data. . .or a bug that allowed access to protected application components.

Over the years, the data collected from this reward program allowed Google to create systems that automated checks when an application was submitted to the Play Store. And these checks were able to help over 300,000 developers fix more than 1 million apps before they were pushed live to the public.

Thankfully, this has resulted in fewer and fewer bug reports submitted to the Google Play Security Reward Program, which has basically made the bug bounty program obsolete.

So Google has announced the Google Play Security Reward Program will be ending at the end of this month, on August 31st, 2024. With final reward decisions being completed by September 30th.

conclusion
It's surprising to see Alphabet ending this system, no matter how little it is being used.
It can't cost the company that much money to keep it open. . .and ending it will almost assuredly enable new unknown exploits to become more common as time goes on.

Google claims they're ending the program because they've seen a "significant decrease in the number of vulnerabilities reported through the program." Before going on to say "the enhanced security measures built into Android over the years have reduced the necessity for external bug hunting."

But giving security researchers less incentive to report these types of bugs is not going to be good for Android security as a whole.

I'll remain cautiously optimistic for now, but this could result in some unexpected security vulnerabilities in the future.

And before I forget, please click the like button on this video while also making sure to subscribe to the channel for more Android News content like this.

Summary
~~~~~~
1. Intro [00:00]
2.

As an Amazon associate, I may earn a commission on sales from the links below.

The Gear I Use
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5W "Slow" Charger - https://amzn.to/2OaUMV8
Fast Charger - https://amzn.to/3rtBsC6
MicroUSB Cable - https://amzn.to/38dkpeM
USB-C Cable - https://amzn.to/2OqlTvi
TPU Cases - https://amzn.to/38g9b9w
USB-C to 3.5mm Dongle - https://amzn.to/3rVt7c3
USB-C to 3.5mm DAC - https://amzn.to/3CyksSJ
NVIDIA Shield TV - https://bit.ly/3KA17RV
Telescopic Controller - https://amzn.to/3uDrvY9

Watch video Alphabet is Ending the Google Play Security Reward Program [Android News Byte] online, duration hours minute second in high quality that is uploaded to the channel Explaining Android 19 August 2024. Share the link to the video on social media so that your subscribers and friends will also watch this video. This video clip has been viewed 260 times and liked it 17 visitors.

2,794,773

18K