MS offers $250,000 in rewards for new security defenses

Microsoft announced yesterday that it is offering more than $250,000 to researchers who develop new security defenses to protect Windows users against attacks that exploit software bugs. The reward, called the Blue Hat Prize, will pay $200,000 for the best “novel runtime mitigation technology designed to prevent the exploitation of memory safety vulnerabilities.” The two runners up will receive $50,000 and a MSDN Universal subscription valued at $10,000, respectively.

Quote:

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The Microsoft BlueHat Prize contest is designed to generate new ideas for defensive approaches to support computer security. 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.

The inaugural Microsoft BlueHat Prize contest challenges security researchers to design a novel runtime mitigation technology designed to prevent the exploitation of memory safety vulnerabilities. The solution considered to be the most innovative by the Microsoft BlueHat Prize board will be presented the grand prize of US $200,000.

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More info, including how to enter this contest, can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/security/bluehatprize/

I applaud MS for this effort, it shows they are trying and are open to new ideas to help boost their security :D

Big Bang Theory quote. Sheldon to Bill Gates: Maybe if you weren’t so distracted by sick children in Africa, you could have put a little more thought into Windows Vista.