There have been many stories in the news recently suggesting that Epic Games’ ‘Houseparty’ social media app may have a number of rather disturbing security issues. Specifically, unconfirmed sources have claimed that downloading the app has led to various other platforms on their smartphone being compromised.
Well, it seems that following these ‘reports’ Epic Games is willing to call this apparent bluff of the internet. In launching a new bounty program, the company is offering $1m to anyone who can find proof that the app has allowed this to occur!
We are investigating indications that the recent hacking rumors were spread by a paid commercial smear campaign to harm Houseparty. We are offering a $1,000,000 bounty for the first individual to provide proof of such a campaign to bounty@houseparty.com.
— Houseparty (@houseparty) March 31, 2020
Epic Games Launches ‘Fake News’ Bounty!
In the Twitter post, which you can see above, Epic Games has made it clear that they believe that these ‘hacking‘ reports are a targeted smear campaign. In other words, ‘fake news’ specifically designed to impact the growth of, what is honestly, a pretty decent video-based social media app.
So, for you white hat hackers out there, if you do think this application has some dodgy aspects, nows the time to get busy poking in that code! There’s a million dollars that could be yours!
What Do We Think?
The chances are that Houseparty probably does have a few security vulnerabilities. The chances of them allowing access to third-party applications, however, seems pretty slim to me. As such, it’s hardly surprising to see them specify these allegations within their bounty offer.
That being said though, the chances are also equally good that Epic Games is simply just putting their app to the test. Who knows, maybe they want to know if people can find issues with it!
So, whether this is confidence or bug catching is up to you. It will, however, be interesting to see if something can put together to make a compelling case for the money!
What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!
