(Image source from: Newindianexpress.com)

Facebook has honored an Indian man from Manipur for discovering a WhatsApp bug that violated the privacy of a user.

The 22-year old Zonel Sougaijam, a civil engineer, said that the social media giant awarded USD 5000 to him for detecting the WhatsApp bug and also included him in the 'Facebook Hall of Fame 2019'.

In a list of 94 people, Sougaijam's name is currently at the 16th positionin the 'Facebook Hall of Fame' for this year. "During a voice call through WhatsApp, the bug used to allow the caller to upgrade it to a video call without the authorization and knowledge of the receiver. The caller was then able to see what the other person was doing, violating the privacy of the receiver," Sougaijam told PTI.

After coming across the bug, the man reported the matter to the Bug Bounty Program of the Facebook, which deals with the violation of privacy matters, in March, Sougaijam said.

He said his report was recognized by the Facebook Security team the very next day and its technical department fixed the bug within 15-20 days. "After reviewing this issue, we have decided to award you a bounty of $5000," Facebook said in an e-mail sent to Sougaijam.

The man said he found his name in the Facebook ' Hall of Fame' page this month.

Facebook, owned by Mark Zuckerberg, purchased the instant messaging application WhatsApp in February 2014 for a staggering 19 billion USD.

By Sowmya Sangam