Microsoft offering $250,000 to anyone who can enhance Windows security

In the recent hacking events it’s only natural that companies have started to sit up and take notice of their security. Even though they may not have been the target of the recent waves of attacks by hacking groups Anonymous and LulzSec, companies are starting to realize that while they may have been lucky this time, they may not be in the future.

Microsoft, perhaps in a bid to stay ahead of the pack, have recently offered cash rewards to security researchers who will be able to develop new security defenses to protect Windows users against attacks that exploit bugs found in softwares.

It was announced at the Black Hat security conference that Microsoft will pay $200,000 for the best “novel runtime mitigation technology designed to prevent the exploitation of memory safety vulnerabilities.” Two runners up will also receive $50,000 and a MSDN Universal subscription valued at $10,000 respectively.

Let’s hope that the huge bounty that Microsoft is offering up will make the Windows operating system much more safe from attacks in the future, and if you familiar with computer security and would like to try your hand at winning the $250,000 grand prize, you have until the 1st of April 2012 to enter.