12-Year-Old Hunts Firefox Flaw, Gets $3,000
This is way better than mowing lawns.
When most of us were 12, we'd be doing small manual labor jobs for some spare cash. Maybe it was mowing the lawn or shovelling snow, but seventh-grader Alex Miller isn't your typical 12-year-old.
He's just taken a check from Mozilla for $3,000 after collecting one of the bug bounties. Miller found a security flaw in Firefox that Mozilla deemed valuable enough to reward with a $3,000 bounty – a sum that's up from the previous amount of $500. (Mozilla said that it has increased the bounty amount to reflect the change in the economy… but I'm still waiting for my salary to go up six-fold.)
Alex found the bug and sent in a report to Mozilla, but that wasn't enough to qualify for the money. He had to dig deeper. So, he spent 90 minutes a day for 10 days until he found the bug in the memory.
The 12-year-old said that he was "really, really, really, really, really happy," when the check came in.
His first use of his money? It was a donation of $100 to his neighbor's nonprofit organization of Unconditional Love Animal Rescue.
Source: Mercury News
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We need more kids like this in America.
So this kid solves a Mozilla bug for 3 g's AND donates to charities?
Well don't I just feel like a waste of a life..
Wow, what a kid. He's like so money and he knows it. He's like a bear, and he has these claws and he knows how to kill the little bunny rabbit... or bugs.
All I want to do is build computers? He is one of many to fix the worlds problems. First, the Mozilla browsers, then the World!
So this kid solves a Mozilla bug for 3 g's AND donates to charities?Well don't I just feel like a waste of a life..
Aw, don't feel bad. Your time will come as well.
With a little effort and curiosity; any kid can make something big for family/society.
Could he also debug my software? I can spare one dollar for each fixed bug.
That's really a cool kid.... and of course a cooler browser....
Just goes to show again. Determination is what it is all about! Well done kid.
This kid's hair looks like the nerd version of Justin Bieber.
not a bad way to fund a badly needed upgrade, donate some, and blow the rest, i bet this kid is itchin' to play some starcraft2!
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And when does we started having advertisements in comments
We didn't start having ads in comments -- scummy spammers put them there -- and Moderators will zap the ads and ban the spammers -- as soon as you report them.
Wow, what a kid. He's like so money and he knows it. He's like a bear, and he has these claws and he knows how to kill the little bunny rabbit... or bugs.
.....and what's your problem
The screen shot seems to show he's running Ubuntu 10.04
.......stop thinking that every tech savvy kid is a geek as it's not healthy for you
lol he's just make himself look important and bigger in life by realizing that this kid has exceed him so therefore he insults him in a weak attempt to justify his own life and make himself feel better lol. its rather pathetic actually.
time to dig into my chrome
next time use internet explorer to find your bugs and you will be a millionaire
internet explorer bugs worth nothing, they're many so microsoft would never care if someone find a flaw.
no, you get thumbs down for offending people w/o a good reason & because this kid's personal life is none of your business.It's because of people like you in my country that many inventions & inventors are buried before they see the daylight
2na fahmak 3la fekra.
Guys, 1st rule of good comment is to never offend people.
if the kid is a geek,fine I'm a geek also
But he's smarter than me, he converted his geekness into money
Kid, keep going but never forget school.
Way to go kid.
That's twice what I made in a year at 17.
I have feelings of inadequacy.
.......stop thinking that every tech savvy kid is a geek as it's not healthy for you
Stop thinking that being a geek is bad for you.
We need more kids like this in America.
Then I would go poor :S
it's okay because that kid has obviously never touched a girl
He is 12 years old...
We need more kids like this in America.
we nee more kids like this in the world
$200 per hour, not to shabby for a twelve year old.
And here I was building my WWII Pacific collection of plastic models.
Although in my defense - we didn't even have PC's in the home when I was 12 and Carter was Pres...... ;-)
He has some physical similarities with a young Bill Gates, don't you think ?
Maybe one day he will become one hehehe. Good job, by the way!
.....and what's your problem
Nothing. I was impressed. Has nobody seen Swingers?
$200 per hour, not to shabby for a twelve year old.
Hopefully, it's all tax free
So this kid solves a Mozilla bug for 3 g's AND donates to charities?Well don't I just feel like a waste of a life..
Not a total waste; at least that comment made me smile. However, from here on out...mmmmm...