Hackers are known for the headaches they can cause. But two men used their technological talents to help United Airlines â and they each received one million frequent flyer miles for their effort.
CNN Money reported that Kyle Lovett and Jordan Wiens were the big winners in the airlineâs new program, which rewards hackers who identify security bugs in Unitedâs system.
The mileage thatâs awarded ranges from 50,000 to one million, depending on the severity of the glitch.
âSuch awards, known as âbug bountiesâ are paid to any hacker that can help United identify a problem with its system,â the report said. âMany companies and security firms offer bug bounties, including Google and Facebook, but United says it's the first airline to do so.â
According to Reuters, which first reported the story, Wiens spotted a bug that could have allowed a hacker to hijack one of Unitedâs websites.
Industry experts place a $15,000 price tag on Unitedâs top reward.
Hackers can hit the jackpot â and be helpful â after all.
What else made this round-up? Read on:
âOn the declineâ
Itâs been a long time â 12 years, actually â since the majority of emails werenât spam.
According to the June report released by security firm Symantec, 49.7% of emails earned spam status. Legitimate emails last outnumbered junk messages in 2003.
Hereâs the caveat, which the Verge points out: The sample size used to calculate the percentage is small and therefore far from âperfect.â
The finding is based solely on Symantec clients. They account for two percent of the antivirus market.
However, if youâre a glass-half-full person whoâs looking for something to celebrate in the fight against spam, this news is it.
â⌠itâs still powerful evidence that spam is on the decline. Symantecâs rate for April was 52.1%, suggesting a rapid drop in the volume of junk.â
The brideâs big day
How many brides-to-be would willingly let total strangers take charge of all their wedding-day decisions? Samantha Carisch relinquished control as contest winner of The Knotâs âMost high-tech weddingâ of the year.
According to Mashable, everything was crowdsourced online. That let Carsich spend more time with her mother, Kathy, whose battle with cancer prevented her from helping to plan and attend the wedding.
But Kathy was connected. The wedding was live streamed. Drones captured aerial images. A GoPro in the bouquet gave a unique perspective of Carisch's walk down the aisle.
âItâs amazing that weâll have so much unique footage, angles and data from the day that paint a bigger picture of what everything was like,â Carisch told Mashable.
Six-digit security
Appleâs iOS 9 is currently in beta. And one of the differences in this iteration of the operating system is the option to create a longer passcode â six digits instead of four.
The feature, as you can guess, is designed to improve the security on devices.
However, according to CNET, iOS 9 doesnât immediately make the six-digit option available upon upgrading. You have to select it.
CNET has the step-by-step instructions.
No ifs, ands or âbuttsâ
A U.S. federal appeals court in Kentucky ruled the âbutt dialâ is not an adequate defense when fighting to ensure a conversation stays private.
According to SC Magazine: âThere is no expectation of privacy in the event of a âbutt dialâ â an inadvertent call made when a caller sits on a phone â when a caller hadnât taken reasonable steps to prevent it.â
Kentucky businessman James Huff and his wife sued executive assistant Carol Shaw over a call she shouldnât have heard. Shaw recorded some of what she felt was talk about illegal activity.
Bertha Huffâs portion of the lawsuit was ultimately overturned since she wasnât responsible for the accidental dial. James Huff, however, wasnât so lucky.
Itâs a good reminder to always watch what you say.
Consider yourself warned.
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