We are investigating indications that the recent hacking rumors were spread by a paid commercial smear campaign to harm Houseparty. We are offering a $1,000,000 bounty for the first individual to provide proof of such a campaign to bounty@houseparty.com.

— Houseparty (@houseparty) March 31, 2020

On Monday, a number of claims appeared online from users saying they were unable to access other applications such as Netflix, Spotify and online banking after they had downloaded Houseparty. Other users claimed Epic Games — which purchased Houseparty in 2019 — was preventing the removal of the app from phones.

In a statement reported on the BBC, however, a spokesperson for Epic Games refuted those claims, saying, “We’ve found no evidence to suggest a link between Houseparty and the compromises of other unrelated accounts.”

It’s not clear who Houseparty suspects is behind the alleged sabotage attempt, but it could not have come at a worse time for the platform. Video-calling has taken on an unprecedented focus in recent times. With people around the world consigned to their homes because of the coronavirus outbreak, platforms such Houseparty have become the go-to way of staying in touch. Indeed, according to Apptopia, downloads of Houseparty rose from an average of 130,000 per week in mid-February to two million a week in the middle of March.

Google’s Vulnerability Reward Programs (VRP) have been around since 2010, designed to reward researchers for discovering bugs and flaws that Google might have missed. The initiative has expanded steadily since then to cover its other products, including Chrome and Android, and last year the company extended its Google Play security reward arm to include not just the top eight apps, but any app that’s had more than 100 million installs. This netted researchers $650,000 in rewards in the second half of 2019 alone. In total, Google has paid out more than $21 million since its VRPs were launched.

It’s a lot of money, but it makes good financial sense — despite its best efforts Google can’t be on top of every single potential vulnerability, and rewarding benevolent bug bounty hunters is likely a lot more cost effective than dealing with the fallout of a nefarious hack. Plus, of course, the program helps to incentivize bright young minds into the sector.

It’s hardly surprising, then, that other companies have followed suit. Tesla hands out big cash prizes — and even cars — to anyone that’s able to crack its vehicle security system, while Apple‘s bug bounty program offers single payouts of up to $1 million. As hackers become increasingly sophisticated and technology continues to permeate every area of our lives, it won’t be a surprise to anyone to see the value of bug bounties skyrocketing, and even more companies launching their own initiatives.

By including its other operating systems, Apple is extending the bug bounty program that it first launched for iOS in 2016. Researchers who discover security flaws that affect platforms other than iOS are eligible to receive payouts as large as $200,000. That is the same price Apple initially offered as a maximum reward for its iOS program. The company boosted that payout to $1 million today, only for iOS flaws that allow an attacker to gain full access to an iPhone or iPad without any physical interaction with the device. The company also added a $500,000 tier reward for security shortcomings that allow hackers to access user data.

Extending its bug bounty program to all of its platforms is a long time coming for Apple, and perhaps motivated by people withholding disclosure of bugs because of the lack of incentive. Earlier this year, a security researcher revealed that he discovered a flaw in macOS that could expose user passwords but refused to provide details to Apple because of the lack of a bounty program for the operating system.