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Software $10,000 To Discover Critical Windows Flaw; More Flaws, More Prizes
Tuan Nguyen (Blog) - February 16, 2006 5:06 PM

8 comment(s) - last by tjr508.. on Feb 17 at 4:32 AM

The flaw must be deemed by Microsoft to be "critical" in order for the prize to be claimed

Recently we reported on a lump sum of $10,000 being put together by the online community for anyone or group who can successfully run both OS X and Windows XP on a new Core Duo iMac from Apple. Now, it seems that similar bounties are being paid out to those who can crack open critical security flaws in Windows.

iDefense, a security firm based in the US is offering $10,000 to anyone who can open up a security hole that Microsoft deems to be "critical". The flaw must be new and undiscovered. iDefense claims that it is doing this to promote Microsoft fixing flaws faster and says that many of its clients are Windows users and this will be beneficial to everyone. iDefense is hoping that with a bounty at stake, hackers that usually would exploit a flaw to hurt other computer users will in turn surrender the information for money.

Recently there have been large sums of money offered for those who can supply attacking tools for less than legal purposes such as the Windows WMF flaw which we reported on earlier. Those who are in search for another $10,000 (and growing) prize, can try their hands at getting Windows XP to run on a Core Duo iMac.

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I found one!

By BioRebel on 2/16/2006 6:14:48 PM , Rating: 4

*E-mails microsoft a copy of internet explorer.*

RE: I found one!

By FearaFox on 2/16/2006 6:48:14 PM , Rating: 3

you still have a copy of that??

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RE: I found one!

By Scrogneugneu on 2/16/2006 10:03:37 PM , Rating: 2

Try on download.com, or maybe on a torrent site.

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10k vs x loot?

By Pythias on 2/16/2006 5:55:53 PM , Rating: 2

Why go for 10k when you can make scads more than that exploiting a critical flaw?

RE: 10k vs x loot?

By The Cheeba on 2/16/2006 5:57:11 PM , Rating: 2

Some people have integrity?

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RE: 10k vs x loot?

By abhaxus on 2/17/2006 1:44:12 AM , Rating: 2

why make scads of money exploiting a security flaw when you can also get 10k for announcing that you know it?

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SMART ! !

By tjr508 on 2/17/2006 4:32:13 AM , Rating: 2

Thats a great idea.
Surely most people would rather take the $10k than risk a lot to make a little.

If microfot or others would have been doing this years ago who knows what the OS market would look like? I mean I can only recall about 4 attacks that were critical enough to lock down a system or prepare for a reformat. Maybe 6 more that were more or less denial of service (DOS) and had easy fixes within days. Think if 8 of those 10 were given rewards, I'd say MS would be a much friendlier name.

I know in the business world where people have sensative data, there are far more serious scares than DOS or reformat and those 10 scares were probably more like 500, so my logic will not hold true there.

BTW openoffice.org ownes MSoffice except for the alternative spelling suggestions. Those stink compared to word.