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      Google Pays $10M in Bug Bounties in 2023

      news.movim.eu / Schneier · Thursday, 21 March - 16:04

    BleepingComputer has the details . It’s $2M less than in 2022, but it’s still a lot.

    The highest reward for a vulnerability report in 2023 was $113,337, while the total tally since the program’s launch in 2010 has reached $59 million.

    For Android, the world’s most popular and widely used mobile operating system, the program awarded over $3.4 million.

    Google also increased the maximum reward amount for critical vulnerabilities concerning Android to $15,000, driving increased community reports.

    During security conferences like ESCAL8 and hardwea.io, Google awarded $70,000 for 20 critical discoveries in Wear OS and Android Automotive OS and another $116,000 for 50 reports concerning issues in Nest, Fitbit, and Wearables.

    Google’s other big software project, the Chrome browser, was the subject of 359 security bug reports that paid out a total of $2.1 million.

    Slashdot thread .

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      The Security Vulnerabilities of Message Interoperability

      news.movim.eu / Schneier · Tuesday, 28 March, 2023 - 18:05

    Jenny Blessing and Ross Anderson have evaluated the security of systems designed to allow the various Internet messaging platforms to interoperate with each other:

    The Digital Markets Act ruled that users on different platforms should be able to exchange messages with each other. This opens up a real Pandora’s box. How will the networks manage keys, authenticate users, and moderate content? How much metadata will have to be shared, and how?

    In our latest paper, One Protocol to Rule Them All? On Securing Interoperable Messaging , we explore the security tensions, the conflicts of interest, the usability traps, and the likely consequences for individual and institutional behaviour.

    Interoperability will vastly increase the attack surface at every level in the stack ­ from the cryptography up through usability to commercial incentives and the opportunities for government interference.

    It’s a good idea in theory, but will likely result in the overall security being the worst of each platform’s security.