One sure-fire way to test the security of an application or platform is to offer up a big chunk of money to anyone that can thwart said app or platform.
That's exactly what AgileBits, the company behind password manager 1Password, is doing with its latest "Capture the Flag" competition by raising the payout amount from $25,000 to a much more substantial $100,000.
Through crowdsourced bug bounty platform Bugcrowd, AgileBits is asking security researchers to break into a specific account and retrieve a list of "bad poetry." Doing so - and meeting all of their guidelines - will net the winner a cool $100,000 prize, the highest existing reward currently offered through Bugcrowd.
AgileBits CEO Jeff Shiner said that they owe it to their customers to do everything in their power to keep them and their information secure. This means using the ingenuity of real people to help continually improve the security of 1Password, Shiner said, adding that it was important for them to demonstrate how seriously they take the competition (hence why they've raised the bounty amount).
Password managers like 1Password can be incredibly convenient but due to the sensitive nature of the data they retain, they're also prime targets for hackers. Whereas the breach of an ordinary site or service may render a hacker a single set of credentials, those who successfully infiltrate a password manager would potentially have access to a treasure trove of credentials for users across a variety of sites (assuming the data is unencrypted, of course).
Those interested in learning more are encouraged to check out the competition over on Bugcrowd's website.