Instagram User Token Impersonation - From Discovery to Defense in Depth

Explore a high-impact Instagram vulnerability discovery that earned a $50,000 bounty reward in this 36-minute conference talk from Ekoparty Security Conference. Learn the complete story behind Philippe Harewood's discovery of a user token impersonation vulnerability on Instagram, from initial identification through exploitation techniques. Gain insights into Meta's security response process as Farah Hawa, Security Analyst at Meta, explains the escalation procedures and decision-making factors that determined the substantial payout. Discover the technical details of how subtle vulnerabilities can be uncovered in large-scale platforms like Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Oculus. Understand the collaborative relationship between security researchers and Meta's security teams through their bounty program, and learn how these discoveries contribute to improving security testing and defense mechanisms for large-scale systems. Benefit from the combined expertise of an independent security researcher with over a decade of experience in Meta platform vulnerabilities and a security analyst known for educational content and practical hacking tutorials in the bug bounty community.