Nintendo is willing to give a whopping $20,000 payday to anyone who can hack the Nintendo Switch hardware security vulnerabilities. The company hatched the lucrative plan so that they can know their popular console's vulnerabilities that would give chances for people to pirate the product. To put it simply, Nintendo wants information and has money for the informants.
The sweet deal is actually the same deal that a Japanese company introduced late last year for the 3DS. This kind of security strategy ensures everyone buys Switch games instead of downloading them illegally, and a cool bounty is a good motivator. So it's basically a bug-hunt sponsored by the gaming company where the hackers get their prize bounty after a successful hack.
According to PC Mag, Nintendo Switch's Hacker Prize is an extension of the existing system setup with the Hacker One website. This popular gamer website already handles the 3DS bounty scheme and will be having an additional client now. So here is how it works: aspiring hackers can see the list of the details of vulnerabilities in the Nintendo system, they hack the system and make sure to be the first to report it.
According to CNET, successful hackers will get the minimum bounty payout of $100. The $20,000 reward is understandably reserved for the hackers who can figure out the most serious Nintendo flaws. The company's Switch is clearly very secure but Nintendo would still be happy to pay for identified vulnerabilities since it also stops piracy from being a critical issue for the company.
Elements that give chances for piracy or cheating to occur in the game is top on the Nintendo Switch list for hacking, but flaws like system privilege escalation, kernel takeovers, or cloning will also qualify for a reward. They just require you to be the first one to report it. As of late, there are only three hackers who have reported any bugs, and reports have reportedly been resolved.
