Microsoft has issued a call to action for researchers worldwide, inviting them to take part in a research challenge designed to uncover high-impact vulnerabilities in its software.
Named “Zero Day Quest,” this challenge will reward bug bounties to individuals who can report flaws in Microsoft’s AI, Azure, Identity, Dynamics 365, Power platform, and M365.
The challenge will run until January 19, 2025, and will be governed by the existing bounty programme terms, the safe harbour policy, and additional terms and conditions.
Microsoft is aiming for this event to foster collaboration between the security community’s researchers and engineers, to strengthen the safety measures for all its users.
Simultaneously with an online function, the 45 researchers who have received the most bounties will be extended an invitation to a cost-covered Onsite Zero Day Quest event in Washington. Moreover, the 10 researchers who secure the highest positions on the 2024 Azure, Dynamics, and Office leaderboards will also be invited.
Over the past year, AI has been the main topic in security discussions, leading to heightened concerns about AI security. To address these growing worries, Microsoft has increased its incentives for reporting AI vulnerabilities by doubling the AI bounty awards.
Moreover, other multipliers have been implemented, such as enhanced rewards for finding critical and significant Remote Code Execution and Elevation of Privilege flaws that can be exploited remotely.
Microsoft has deemed security as its primary objective, commencing its secure future campaign with a commitment to ‘security being the top priority’ to safeguard both individual users and corporate entities.
“This new hacking event will be the largest of its kind, with an additional $4 million in potential awards for research into high-impact areas, specifically cloud and AI. Zero Day Quest will provide new opportunities for the security community to work hand in hand with Microsoft engineers and security researchers – bringing together the best minds in security to share, learn, and build community as we work to keep everyone safe,” Tom Gallagher, VP of Engineering for Microsoft Security Response Centre said.