Why United Continental Gave Frequent Flier Miles to Hackers

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United Continental (UAL) has given hackers millions of frequent flier miles for doing their jobs.

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United Continental paid hackers in frequent flier miles after they discovered security flaws with its system. Two awards of one million miles were handed out and several other hackers claim to have been given smaller awards. The awards are part of its new bug bounty program, which awards hackers for turning in exploits, reports Reuters.

United Continental is hoping that its bug bounty program will lead to it having stronger security. One of the one-million-mile awards was given to a hacker that discovered a vulnerability that could lead to the company’s website being hijacked. The program was announced in May right before glitches grounded many of the airline’s flights, Reuters notes.

United Continental isn’t the only company with a bug bounty program. However, many of these bug bounty programs are limited to tech companies. Such companies that have similar programs include Google (GOOG,GOOGL), Twitter (TWTR), and Facebook (FB).

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Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2015/07/united-continental-hackers-ual/.

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