Detecting a Whatsapp bug has changed the fate of this 22-year-old civil engineer from Manipur.
When Zonel Sougaijam spotted a critical bug in this social media app that can breach the privacy of a user, hardly he knew he will make it to the “Facebook Hall of Fame 2019” and will be awarded 3.4 lakh prize money.
While speaking to PTI, an elated Zonel said, “During a voice call through WhatsApp, the bug used to allow the caller to upgrade it to a video call without the authorization and knowledge of the receiver. The caller was then able to see what the other person was doing, violating the privacy of the receiver.”
When Zonel found the bug, he reported the matter to the Facebook’s Bug Bounty Program in March that counters privacy breach related matters. He further mentioned that the report was looked into by the Facebook Security team, who acknowledged it and the technical department of the company fixed the bug within 15-20 days.
It was only after a thorough review, “we have decided to award you a bounty of USD 5000,” said an email sent by Facebook to Sougaijam.
Whatsapp, a messaging service was purchased by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for a whopping of 19 billion USD in February 2014.
A B.Tech. graduate from Punjab Technical University, Zonel’s name proudly occupies the 16th position in a list consisting of 94 extraordinary people in the FB “Hall of Fame” for this year.