Elon Musk asks hackers to break X Chat encryption

Elon Musk has boldly asked hackers to break X’s new encrypted chat feature with no promise of a reward.

As bug bounties become more commonplace, there are an increasing number of events where hackers locate vulnerabilities and break features within popular apps and websites for a lump sum.

Cybernews previously released a YouTube video that documented how hackers make their money, with some earning $800,000 in one weekend through bug bounty competitions.

Bug bounties are not to be messed with, as certain hackers depend on companies paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars to locate bugs and other vulnerabilities.

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Well, not the richest man in the world, who has encouraged ethical hackers across the globe to hack into X’s new encrypted chat feature with no promise of a reward.

The new feature, X Chat, is currently in beta but aims to be “the communication system for Earth” by offering end-to-end encrypted messages with “no ad hooks and no dependency on AWS like other messaging services.”

The chat feature’s official X account claims that X cannot read users' messages as “keys can only be recovered from hardware security modules (HSMs) by entering your PIN.”

Elon Musk, the CEO of X, claims that users can “send files via X Chat with full encryption” and that the new feature is “much more secure than email.”

Musk has encouraged hackers to find vulnerabilities in his new feature with a very unceremonious message on X, which reads: “And we welcome any attempts to break X encryption.”

One X user told Musk that he should “host a hackathon and hire a guy that can do it.”

"’Come break it’ is either supreme confidence or a very expensive bug bounty program,” said another X user.

“Is there a bug bounty on it?” another X user questions.

However, Musk has seemingly gone the cheap route and wants hackers to volunteer their time to find vulnerabilities for the company to fix, for nothing.