Instagram Gave a Preteen Hacker $10,000 While You Looked for the Right Filter

Impact

Gigi Hadid can rake in thousands of dollars by simply posing with a mascara tube in an Instagram photo, but people who aren't already mega-rich supermodels with millions of followers gotta hack. 

And that's what a preteen in Helsinki just did. Ten-year-old Jani discovered a vulnerability on Instagram, Iltalehti reported. He found that the comment field on the photo-sharing service couldn't withstand malicious code — it gave him the power to delete any comments he wanted. Even Justin Bieber's photo comments, Jani said. 

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So the boy genius emailed Instagram to put the vulnerability on its radar and, a few days later, received $10,000 from the company. This isn't Jani's first vulnerability find — he and his twin brother have reportedly discovered others in the past, but they were reportedly too small to warrant a reward. But try to take away a carefully curated photo's comments, and you've got about 500 Harriet Tubmans in your wallet. 

Jani told Iltalehti that his dream job is in information security, according to a translation on Reddit. He plans to spend his hacktivist reward on a soccer ball and a new bike. Kids these days.