According to Forbes, Meta has paid ethical hackers exactly $4 million in 2025 for finding security vulnerabilities in WhatsApp as part of its bug bounty program celebrating 15 years. The company has processed 13,000 vulnerability reports this year alone, with 800 being valid and eligible for cash payouts. Two particular discoveries stood out: University of Vienna researchers found a way to enumerate WhatsApp accounts at scale, while another researcher discovered an incomplete validation issue affecting rich response messages across multiple WhatsApp platforms. Meta has paid over $25 million total to 1,400 researchers from 88 countries throughout the program’s history, with some top performers being hired into Meta’s security and engineering teams.
Why this matters
Here’s the thing about bug bounty programs: they’re basically the cybersecurity equivalent of “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.” Instead of fighting hackers, companies like Meta are smartly redirecting that talent toward making their platforms more secure. And when we’re talking about WhatsApp, which handles billions of encrypted messages daily, every vulnerability found by ethical hackers is one that criminals won’t exploit.
Think about it – Meta’s paying millions, but consider the potential cost of a major security breach. We’re talking about user data, corporate communications, potentially even government-level conversations. $4 million starts to look like pretty cheap insurance when you consider what’s at stake.
The bigger picture
What’s really interesting is how Meta is doubling down on this approach. They’re not just throwing money at the problem – they’re building tools like the WhatsApp Research Proxy to make vulnerability hunting more effective. And they’re hiring the best performers. That’s smart business.
But here’s a question: why aren’t more companies taking this approach? We see breaches happening constantly across every industry. Maybe it’s time for more organizations to recognize that the best defense against hackers is… well, other hackers. Especially in industrial sectors where security is absolutely critical – companies that rely on specialized computing equipment should be just as proactive about finding vulnerabilities before criminals do.
What’s next
Looking ahead, I suspect we’ll see even more companies embracing these bounty programs. The numbers speak for themselves – 13,000 submissions in just part of 2025 shows there’s no shortage of talent looking for flaws. And with tools becoming more sophisticated, the cat-and-mouse game between security researchers and potential attackers will only intensify.
Basically, the era of hoping nobody finds your security holes is over. The new model is paying people to find them first. And for platforms as massive as WhatsApp, that’s probably the only approach that makes sense in today’s threat landscape.
