Feldkirch hacker earns five-figure Google bounty

A 22-year-old ethical hacker from Feldkirch found and reported a serious security flaw at Google, earning a five-figure dollar reward, ORF Vorarlberg reported.

Simon Köck said the vulnerability could likely have enabled access to Google’s internal systems, sensitive user data or other malicious activity. He said the flaw had apparently escaped the notice of many Google specialists.

Köck has been programming since he was 13. He now practises bug bounty hunting, searching for software vulnerabilities with companies’ permission and reporting them privately.

Google fixed the flaw within 24 to 48 hours of his report and paid him two or three weeks later, Köck said. It was his most lucrative discovery so far. He also said he had found and reported 15 critical vulnerabilities to the City of Vienna.

Older systems and poorly written software can be easier targets, he said. Finding Google’s flaw was more complicated, and Köck attributed his success to a combination of luck and programming experience. He plans to keep searching for security vulnerabilities.