Facebook awards Manipur youth for discovering WhatsApp Bug

Social media giant Facebook has awarded 5000USD to a Manipur youth for discovering a WhatsApp Bug which violates the privacy of a user.

Interacting with Pratidin Time, Zonel Sougaijam said he discovered the bug (technical glitch) and immediately reported it to the Bug Bounty Program of Facebook which deals with violation of privacy matters.

The bug, Zonel, explains "during a voice call through WhatsApp, the bug allows the receiver to turn into a video call without the authorisation and knowledge of the individual making the voice call thereby violating his privacy."

The 22 year old youth, a B.Tech from Punjab Technical University, said his report was acknowledged by the Facebook Security team the very next day through Gmail.

Accordingly, the security team transferred the matter into their technical department, and the bug was fixed in 15/20 days time.

The FB team also informed the Civil Engineering completed student that "they are in the process of fixing it" and later informed him that it has been fixed.

The bug was fixed and upgraded in the newly upgraded version of WhatsApp and the personal privacy of WhatsApp user who has not upgraded it are liable to have their privacy intruded.

Meanwhile, Facebook in their official web page, has listed Zonel in their Hall of Fame and currently stands at 16th position among 96 others as of now.

-By Phanjoubam Chingkheinganba