A man who hacked into Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook page to expose a privacy bug is now getting donations from hackers around the world after the giant company refused to pay him under a program that normally rewards people who report bugs.
Hacker and developer Khalil Shreateh discovered and reported the flaw but was repeatedly dismissed by the company’s security team until he posted a message on the billionaire’s Timeline to prove the flaw’s existence.
Now cyber software firm BeyondTrust’s chief technology officer Marc Maiffret is making sure the developer doesn’t leave his experience empty-handed.
Maiffret launched a fundraising campaign Monday on GoFundMe with a hopeful goal of $10,000. In solidarity for the dev, hackers worldwide opened their pockets, and at the time of this writing the goal has been achieved and then some – tallying to an impressive $11,305.
Maiffret initially wrote on the GoFundMe page:
“Khalil Shreateh found a vulnerability in Facebook.com and, due to miscommunication, was not awarded a bounty for his work. Let us all send a message to security researchers across the world and say that we appreciate the efforts they make for the good of everyone.”
After the $10,000 mark was reached, he added:
“Thank you so much to everyone who helped make this happen for Khalil. I am leaving this active while I work with GoFundMe to transfer the funds to Khalil, whom I am now in contact with. I hope this has raised awareness of the importance of independent researchers. I equally hope it has reminded other researchers that while working with technology companies can sometimes be frustrating, we can never forget the greater goal; to help the Internet community at large, just as that community has helped donate over $10,000 to Khalil within a day.”
It’s clear Facebook made a PR blunder in this scenario, what do you think the company will do to remedy its mistake?
Source: GoFundMe
