Tech giant Oracle has funded a bug-hunting Kiwi project targeting one of the world’s most widely used programming languages.
The California-based corporation has gifted Massey University’s Associate Professor Jens Dietrich $60,000 to seek out bugs and security weaknesses in Java, which is operated in 15 billion devices around the world in everything from Netflix and Android mobile apps to complex financial programs used by large companies.
When it comes to problems in the software, traditionally companies have worked on them and kept the solutions to themselves – but Oracle plans to share any that Dietrich discovers.
By allowing researchers to disseminate findings in journals, Dietrich said, other companies can use the information, meaning the problem is fixed in a smaller amount of time and firms save money by cutting out the commercialisation aspect.