FAIRFAX, CA – DECEMBER 18: The Instagram logo is displayed on an Apple iPhone on December 18, 2012 in Fairfax, California. Users of the popular photo-sharing app Instagram are angered over language in Instagram’s new terms of service that states that a business may use any of the users photographs in advertising without compensation to the user. The policy is set to go into effect on January 16, 2013. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
A 10-year-old Finnish boy has received $10,000 from Facebook after finding a security fault in the Instagram app (owned by Facebook), media reports said on Tuesday.
The 10 year old will be the youngest recipient of the Facebook Bug BountyProgramme which rewards researchers and hackers for submitting hacks and bugs they discovered on any of the Facebook platforms.
The boy, whose name was given as Jani, discovered the security vulnerability in the Instagram app in March.
He found that he could delete other people’s comments when he inputted malicious code into the comment field of the application.
Jani informed Instagram about the technical fault by email, and few days later, Instagram replied to him that the flaw has been fixed, and as a reward, he received $10,000 dollars from Instagram.
According to FORBES, Facebook said that Jani verified his report by deleting a comment the company posted on a test account.
The boy said he had been enthusiastic about coding games for years. He had been building up his skills on his own with his twin brother.
Jani’s father said that he was very surprised that his son had learned so much about coding and data security.
Meanwhile the boy said he dreamed of becoming an information security expert in the future.
“It would be my dream job; security is really important,” Jani said.
“It would be my dream job; security is really important,” Jani said.