European Commission gives up to 3000 euros for finding bugs in VLC

The European Commission is launching its first bug bounty program, for which the body uses the HackerOne platform. Until mid-January, hackers and researchers can examine the code of media player VLC for a chance to win amounts of up to 3000 euros.

The rewards for finding bugs range from $100 to $3,000, depending on the severity of the software bug, which is determined by VLC’s security team. HackerOne reports that a select group of hackers and researchers will initially be able to participate in the program, based on their experience and previous work with the platform.

After three weeks, the program becomes accessible to everyone and in mid-January the hunt for bugs stops. The program is part of the free software security audit program, Fossa for short. A year ago, money was released in the EU budget to expand Fossa with a bug bounty program. Two years earlier, the Fossa programme, set up by MEPs Max Andersson of the Greens and Julia Reda of the Pirate Party, was launched. At the end of last year, the European Parliament adopted the proposal for expansion with a bug bounty component by D66 MEP Marietje Schaake.

The aim of the procedure is that European institutions can make use of open source software projects that have been adequately investigated for potential vulnerabilities. This should increase the security of the European Union’s network infrastructure.