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Nintendo offering $20,000 for those that find 3DS security flaws

Although how much you'll receive is at Nintendo's discretion

Nintendo is offering cash rewards for hackers that can expose security weaknesses in its 3DS family of consoles.

Upwards of $20,000 will be made available to successful hackers who can help address the weaknesses in Nintendo's portable machine. The offer does not extend to Wii U.

It's part of a programme the firm is working on with HackerOne.

The offer is Nintendo's renewed efforts to reduce piracy (including game application dumping and game copying execution), cheating (which includes game modification and save data modification) and the spreading of inappropriate content to children.

It suggests that Nintendo is true to its statement that it wants to maintain its 3DS business, even after the launch of its Switch console in March. Switch, which doubles as both a home and portable console, is seen as the natural successor to the 3DS, although Nintendo has stated it will continue to release games for the hardware. Over 60m 3DS consoles have been sold worldwide since the machine launched in 2011.

The 'reward' for finding vulnerabilities in the 3DS hardware will range from $100 to $20,000, and the amount will be at Nintendo's discretion. Vulnerabilities that are already known will not be counted. The level of the reward will depend on the importance of information, quality of report and the severity of the vulnerability. Nintendo is looking for reports that include a proof of concept or functional exploit of code.

For more details on what Nintendo is looking for, click here.

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Christopher Dring avatar

Christopher Dring

Head of Games B2B

Chris is a 17-year media veteran specialising in the business of video games. And, erm, Doctor Who

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