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Re:How I Could Have Hacked Any Instagram Account by tuna-piano on Thursday July 18, 2019 @10:43AM (#20470316)
Could someone explain how this person is allowed to do that type of testing (sending 200,000 requests)? How would Facebook know he is a white hat and not a black hat?

I would be interested in starting to try some of these programs, but a bit scared I'd be doing something illegal... Where is the line?

Re:How I Could Have Hacked Any Instagram Account by btown on Thursday July 18, 2019 @10:52AM (#20470430)
The actual "bug" is that Facebook did not have sufficient controls in place to even detect this type of brute-force attack, much less make it impossible to attempt in the first place. Facebook seems (IN THIS INSTANCE) to have appreciated the white-hat nature of this and awarded the bug bounty, but it very well might not have. And certainly other organizations don't take nearly as friendly stances. Generally, I wouldn't bet on most organizations seeing brute-force attacks as in-scope for bug bounties - this is by no means legal advice though.
Re:How I Could Have Hacked Any Instagram Account by stibba on Thursday July 18, 2019 @10:47AM (#20470368)
If you want to test a company look at their 'Responsible disclosure'. For example: https://www.facebook.com/whitehat
Re:How I Could Have Hacked Any Instagram Account by jakecraige on Thursday July 18, 2019 @10:46AM (#20470355)
They have a bug bounty program that gives you permission to do certain kinds of things and it not be illegal since you’re planning to report anything you find (and get paid for it)