SpaceX says researchers are welcome to hack Starlink and can be paid up to $25,000 for finding bugs in the network

Researchers are welcome to hack into Starlink. They could be paid up to $25,000 for discovering bugs in the service.

Last week, Wouters said he was able to hack into Starlink using a homemade device. He said he did the test for the bug bounty program.

In a document titled "Starlink welcomes security researchers (bring on the bugs)," the company welcomed Wouters.

The document said that the attack was the first of its kind that they were aware of. The hack won't affect the satellites, according to the company.

According to the document, the company's own engineers try to hack Starlink to improve the service and make it more secure. If security researchers wanted to help secure Starlink, they should join the team or contribute their findings to the company's bug bounty program.

"Responsible security researchers are allowed to do their own testing and we give monetary rewards when they find and report vulnerabilities," the document said.

Researchers who carry out non-disruptive tests on Starlink can be rewarded between $100 and $25,000.

The site has a list of researchers who reported security issues. In the last three months, the average amount of money paid out was almost $1,000.

Testing that disrupt the service for users, physical attacks on large-scale infrastructure, and email spoofing are some of the findings that are out of scope.

The company didn't reply to the request for comment.

"We are going to sell a lot of Starlink kits, so we have to assume some of those will go to people who want to attack the system," the document said.