Microsoft is giving out $250,000 to bug bounty hunters; here’s how you can get it

Microsoft is offering a bounty of up to $250,000 to anyone who finds exploits in Windows 10 and Windows Server Insider Preview under its bug bounty program. Check out the details inside

By: News Desk |
July 28, 2017 2:42 pm

Are you a tech nerd? Do you want to earn some cash? Microsoft is giving out rewards of up to $250,00 to those who discover exploits in the company’s server virtualization software– Hyper V. The bounty varies between $500 and $250,000 depending on the nature of the exploit. “In the spirit of maintaining a high-security bar in Windows, we’re launching the Windows Bounty Program on July 26, 2017,” the company wrote in a blog post announcing the program.

Microsoft has been running bounty programs since 2012 and it gave out a sum of $100,000 for finding flaws in Windows 8.1. The company is now planning to cover more ground in Windows 10 especially in light of the endless malware that are running rampant in the web space.

“Security is always changing and we prioritize different types of vulnerabilities at different points in time. Microsoft strongly believes in the value of the bug bounties, and we trust that it serves to enhance our security capabilities,” the blog read.

Microsoft Bug Bounty program (Photo: Microsoft grab)

While the company is offering a bounty varying between $5,000 and $250,000 for finding exploits in Windows 10, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server Insider Preview, the bounty on Windows 10 has been set between $500 and $200,000.

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Here are the rules of the bug bounty program:

– Any original or previously unreported flaw in Hyper-V is eligible for a bounty.

– If multi submissions are made from different parties highlighting the same flaw, the bounty will be granted to the first submission.

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– If a duplicate submission provides new information, a part of the original bounty will be awarded to the researcher.

– If a researcher reports a vulnerability previously known to Microsoft, the researcher will receive 10 percent of the maximum payout.

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