US-based autonomous offensive security company XBOW said on Oct. 14 that it received a $250,000 reward (approximately 334 million won) for reporting a vulnerability in Google's Chrome browser.

XBOW is the first company this year to receive a bug bounty under Google's Chrome Vulnerability Reward Program. The company plans to use the reward to support cybersecurity efforts at nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

The vulnerability allowed a program outside Chrome's sandbox to execute when a web page was opened. If exploited by hackers, it could have enabled attacks involving ransomware or spyware through Chrome.

XBOW discovered the vulnerability in approximately six days. The investigation and detection process involved just one security researcher and AI agents. Computing costs totaled approximately $40,000.

"Even vulnerabilities that appear low-risk individually can become critical attack paths when combined," said Oege de Moor, founder and CEO of XBOW. "Defenders must identify vulnerabilities and uncover attack paths as quickly as attackers do."

Lee Won-rae, head of XBOW Korea, added, "AI is fundamentally changing the speed and methods of cyberattacks. Korean companies must also establish systems to identify vulnerabilities that attackers could exploit and address them quickly."