Google launches Vulnerability Research Grants program

A new program announced by Google Friday will give researchers monetary rewards before even beginning their research.

The 2015 Vulnerability Research Grants program has expanded previous Google Security Reward Programs – which have shelled out more than $4 million since their creation in 2010 – to cover more of the search giant's services and product offerings, according to a blog post by Google Security Engineer Eduardo Vela Nava.

The “experimental program” will reward researchers before any of their work begins “with no strings” attached. The maximum grant given will be $3,133.70 – also known as ‘eleet' in hacker speak – although researchers are still able to garner rewards for other vulnerabilities they discover.

The largest single reward given to a researcher by Google was $150,000, earned by well-known researcher George Hotz, who joined Google's Project Zero team as an intern.