CybersecurityMicrosoft offers $250,000 in cybersecurity competition

Last Wednesday at the annual Black Hat and Defcon convention for hackers, Microsoft announced a competition for cyber security specialists in which it would award $200,000 to the individual who develops the most innovative computer protection technology.

The year-long competition, dubbed the Blue Hat Prize, will award more than $250,000 worth in prizes. The grand prize winner will receive $200,000, the runner up will receive $50,000, and the third place finisher will receive an MSDN Universal subscription valued at $10,000.

The contest follows in the footsteps of Facebook’s recent competition in which it offered $500 to cyber security specialists who found bugs in their infrastructure.

Matt Thomlinson, the general manager of Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing Group, which is overseeing the competition, said, “As the risk of criminal attacks on private and government computer systems continues to increase, Microsoft recognizes the need to stimulate research in the area of defensive computer security technology.”

“Our interest is to promote a focus on developing innovative solutions rather than discovering individual issues. We believe the BlueHat Prize can catalyze defensive efforts to help mitigate entire classes of attacks,” he added.

The winners of the contest will be announced at next year’s Black Hat and Defcon convention.