Securityweek Google Launches $250,000 Bug Bounty for Cloud Security Research
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- •Google's new $250,000 reward targets high-impact vulnerabilities in Google Cloud.
- •Researchers must demonstrate full administrative control without prior access or social engineering.
- •The program emphasizes safe testing practices to avoid impacting production environments.
Google has introduced a new $250,000 reward tier in its Cloud Vulnerability Reward Program (VRP) aimed at incentivizing high-impact architectural research. This reward targets vulnerabilities that could lead to full administrative control over Google Cloud projects without pre-existing access, social engineering, or compromised credentials. Researchers must demonstrate achieving 'roles/owner' privileges or complete IAM control to qualify. The program emphasizes safe testing practices, requiring researchers to stop probing immediately upon achieving code execution in Google's Borg infrastructure. The initiative reflects a growing need for human-led research in an era dominated by automated vulnerability discovery. Google aims to enhance cloud security by encouraging innovative research and providing clear validation criteria for submissions.
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