Microsoft pays users to hack its systems

"For the first time ever, Microsoft is offering direct cash payouts in exchange for reporting certain types of vulnerabilities and exploitation techniques," the US software company said in a blog post.

"We are making this shift in order to learn about these issues earlier and to increase the win-win between Microsoft's customers and the security researcher community," the blog explained

The bounty programme will launch with three categories of 'wanted' hacker tricks on 26 June, the same day Microsoft is to preview a tweaked version of its operating system referred to as Windows Blue but officially called Windows 8.1.

A Mitigation Bypass Bounty will pay up to US$100,000 for "truly novel exploitation techniques" targeting Windows 8.1 and as much as $50,000 for ways to defend against hacker attacks that qualify for rewards.

Microsoft said that, for a month, it will pay as much as $11,000 for critical vulnerabilities exposed in the version of Internet Explorer browser software tailored for Windows 8.1.

Details are available online at Bounty Programs.

Source: AFP via I-Net Bridge