Microsoft has recently offered more than $250,000 to researchers who can develop new security defenses to protect users of its Windows operating system against hack attacks that can exploit software bugs.
Last Wednesday at the Black Hat security conference, Microsoft announced that they will pay $200,000 for the best “novel runtime mitigation technology designed to prevent the exploitation of memory safety vulnerabilities.” The second placer will receive $50,000 and the third placer will receive an MSDN Universal subscription, which is valued at $10,000.
“The Microsoft BlueHat Prize contest is designed to generate new ideas for defensive approaches to support computer security,” Microsoft stated in its announcement. “As part of our commitment to a more secure computing experience, we hope to inspire security researchers to develop innovative solutions intended to address serious security threats.”
Contest submissions will be accepted until April 1st, 2012. Entries will be judged based on functionality and practicality, how the technology can be easily bypassed, and the technology’s impact on security.
The idea behind Microsoft’s BlueHat Prize competition is to get security researchers working for, not against the company. The company also aims to get its hands on clever security work without spending millions of dollars for its development.
Reports say that Microsoft will retain a royalty free license to the entries, but authors will still own the rights and will be allowed to develop the software freely.
via: PC World