Microsoft revamps its Bounty Program with faster reviews and higher rewards

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Published onApril 3, 2019

published onApril 3, 2019

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Microsoft is makingimprovements to its Bounty Program, a project which rewards hackers for spotting vulnerabilities in its Cloud, Windows, and Azure DevOps services. These improvements not only include higher rewards, but also faster payments as well.

For starters, Microsoft will begin paying spotters as soon as the exploit has been successfully reproduced, as opposed to waiting until the fix has been fully implimented. The company has partnered withHackerOneas its bounty payment processing partner, which will deliver bounty payments in many different options depending on the user’s preference, such as PayPal, cryptocurrency, or a traditional bank transfer.

TheMicrosoft Bounty Programhas also awarded more than $2 million since it started in 2018, and the company is taking things further by increasing the maximum rewards. The highest payment for spotting a vulnerability in the Windows Insider program has been increased from $15,000 to $50,000—and a vulnerability spotted in Azure, Office 365, or another online service will reward up to $20,000, up from the $15,000 it was before.

Microsoft is also making changes to its policies, and will now reward the first researcher to discover a vulerability the full bounty, even if it is already known internally by the company. Previously, reports that have already been internally known would have rewarded only 10% of the eligible reward, so it’s clear that it wants to push for more research when it comes to these issues.

Radu Tyrsina

Radu Tyrsina has been a Windows fan ever since he got his first PC, a Pentium III (a monster at that time).

For most of the kids of his age, the Internet was an amazing way to play and communicate with others, but he was deeply impressed by the flow of information and how easily you can find anything on the web.

Prior to founding Windows Report, this particular curiosity about digital content enabled him to grow a number of sites that helped hundreds of millions reach faster the answer they’re looking for.

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Radu Tyrsina

With KB5043178 to Release Preview Channel, Microsoft advises Windows 11 users to plug in when the battery is low#

Copilot in Outlook will generate personalized themes for you to customize the app#

Microsoft will raise the price of its 365 Suite to include AI capabilities#

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Microsoft revamps its Bounty Program with faster reviews and higher rewards#

With KB5043178 to Release Preview Channel, Microsoft advises Windows 11 users to plug in when the battery is low

Copilot in Outlook will generate personalized themes for you to customize the app

Microsoft will raise the price of its 365 Suite to include AI capabilities

Death Stranding Director’s Cut is now Xbox X|S at a huge discount

Outlook will let users create custom account icons so they can tell their accounts apart easier

Microsoft revamps its Bounty Program with faster reviews and higher rewards