Last year, we again witnessed the power of community-driven security efforts as researchers from around the world contributed to help us identify and address thousands of vulnerabilities in our products and services. Working with our dedicated bug hunter community, we awarded $10 million to our 600+ researchers based in 68 countries.
Google on Tuesday announced that it paid out a total of $10 million through its bug bounty programs in 2023, bringing the total amount awarded by the tech giant for vulnerabilities found in its products since 2010 to $59 million.
The total paid out in 2023 is less than the $12 million handed out in 2022, but it’s still a significant amount. The money was earned last year by 632 researchers from 68 countries. The highest single reward was $113,337.
Google will roll out a Safe Browsing update later this month that will provide real-time malware and phishing protection to all Chrome users, without compromising their browsing privacy.
The company launched Safe Browsing in 2005 to defend users against web phishing attacks and has since upgraded it to block malicious domains that push malware, unwanted software, and various social engineering schemes.
Today, many seasoned security professionals will tell you they’ve been fighting a constant battle against cybercriminals and state-sponsored attackers. They will also tell you that any clear-eyed assessment shows that most of the patches, preventative measures and public awareness campaigns can only succeed at mitigating yesterday’s threats — not the threats waiting in the wings.
That could be changing. As the world focuses on the potential of AI — and governments and industry work on a regulatory approach to ensure AI is safe and secure — we believe that AI represents an inflection point for digital security. We’re not alone. More than 40% of people view better security as a top application for AI — and it’s a topic that will be front and center at the Munich Security Conference this weekend.
Google has confirmed a new security scheme which, it says, will help “secure, empower and advance our collective digital future” using AI. Part of this AI Cyber Defence Initiative includes open-sourcing the new, AI-powered, Magika tool that is already being used to help protect Gmail users from potentially problematic content.
Learn about the fake Google Chrome update malware, a common form of website malware that tricks users into downloading a remote access trojan disguised as a browser update. Understand how it works, its impact on websites, and how to protect your site from such threats. Stay updated on the latest malware trends with Sucuri.
Last week Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG), in partnership with The Citizen Lab, discovered an in-the-wild 0-day exploit chain for iPhones. Developed by the commercial surveillance vendor, Intellexa, this exploit chain is used to install its Predator spyware surreptitiously onto a device.
In response, yesterday, Apple patched the bugs in iOS 16.7 and iOS 17.0.1 as CVE-2023-41991, CVE-2023-41992, CVE-2023-41993. This quick patching from Apple helps to better protect users and we encourage all iOS users to install them as soon as possible.